Amid the devastation of war in Khan Younis, Gaza, rescuers searching the wreckage of a collapsed apartment building heard a baby’s cries from beneath the rubble. On Thursday, they emerged in shock as a man sprinted with an infant girl, swaddled in a blanket, who had been trapped since a recent Israeli airstrike. The baby, identified as Ella Osama Abu Dagga, was just 25 days old when she was rescued, having lost her parents and brother in the attack.
Civil defence responders noted that Ella had been intermittently crying and then falling silent before her extraction. The tragedy struck during a time of tenuous ceasefire, highlighting the grim reality many residents faced—an ongoing sense of insecurity rather than genuine peace. Survivors of the airstrike, including Ella’s elderly grandparents, were left to mourn the loss of their family, who perished alongside others in the attack that claimed a total of 16 lives, predominantly women and children.
The toll of the ongoing conflict has been catastrophic, with renewed Israeli airstrikes leading to nearly 600 fatalities in Gaza in just a few days, including over 400 in a single day. The health ministry reports that the majority of victims have been civilians, including countless children. Eyewitness accounts describe scenes of families gathered for Ramadan festivities, unaware of the impending violence.
As hostilities resumed, Israel attributed the escalation to Hamas’s rejection of a proposed ceasefire agreement, which had previously allowed for the release of hostages. The bombardment’s devastating impact has been pervasive, with the military justifying its actions by claiming to target militants embedded within civilian structures. However, the humanitarian cost of the conflict continues to rise steeply, with the Gaza Health Ministry stating nearly 49,000 Palestinians have died since the onset of the war, many of whom were non-combatants.
Ella’s story, so starkly illustrative of the broader tragedy, serves as a haunting reminder of the human cost of conflict. As her grandmother cradled her, surrounded by relatives mourning their immense losses, they grappled with the harsh realities of their existence amid warfare. The Israeli military’s renewed blockade has further complicated the situation for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians attempting to return to what remains of their homes. Amid the uncertainty and fear, families like Ella’s continue to navigate the horrors of ongoing violence, revealing a heartbreaking cycle of grief and survival in Gaza.