'Struggle, struggle, struggle.' What new and expecting mothers are facing in Gaza
Women who are pregnant or who have recently given birth in Gaza face serious challenges amid daily airstrikes, continued ground fighting, high rates of disease and a growing lack of food and water.
TEL AVIV, Israel — In Rafah, baby Manal has just woken up from a nap. "Have you made a poo-poo?" asks her mother, Likaa Saleh, 24, as she opens a flimsy diaper that was hard to find and is several sizes too small.
The 5-month-old begins to cry. The skin on her tush and legs has rashes and is peeling where the tight material of the diaper rubs — a skin irritation that won't go away. "No, no, no," Saleh soothes her. "I'll put some cream on you now and all the pain will go away. You're a good girl."
It's hardly the life Saleh imagined for her second child when she learned she was pregnant last year. Baby Manal is one of an estimated 20,000 children who have been born in Gaza since Israel began its bombardment of the enclave in response to the
