The report is based on interviews with health professionals, new mothers, and women who were pregnant during the hostilities.
One woman we spoke to, Shaima, told us how she and her family were at home when an Israeli airstrike leveled their house. Her husband, son, and daughter were killed in the blast. Shaima’s pregnancy, in its ninth month at the time of the attack, ended in stillbirth.
Pregnant women in Gaza have almost no opportunity to evacuate, though under international human rights law, all civilians have the right to leave their country, including for medical reasons, as well as the right to return.
As the occupying power in Gaza, the Israeli government is also obligated under international humanitarian law to ensure the civilian population gets food, water, and medical supplies to the fullest extent of the means available to the occupying government.
The ceasefire in Gaza alone won't end the horrific conditions there. Governments should press Israel to ensure that the needs of pregnant women and girls, newborns, and others requiring health care are met.
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