By Ramadan Abed , Mahmoud Issa and Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA/CAIRO, April 1 (Reuters) - They've never known their parents, and they've never known Gaza, born prematurely two years ago and evacuated to Egypt as Israeli forces drew dangerously close to their neonatal care unit.
That changed on Monday, when the 11 children, now toddlers, reunited with their families in Gaza as part of a U.N.-organized mission that brought tears of joy and celebration, as well as a close to one of the war's most painful chapters.
The infants were among 29 preterm babies who were evacuated from the neonatal intensive care unit at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital in November 2023, when Israeli forces raided the hospital over accusations Hamas had used it for military purposes.
With fighting raging and the border to Egypt closed, the babies were permitted to be escorted only by medics. Their parents were not allowed to go with them.
"I couldn't touch her, I couldn't hold my daughter during the two and a half years," one of the children's mothers, Sundus Al-Kurd, said as she embraced her daughter Bissan as she and others reunited with their children on Monday.
"Today is like a (new) birthday, like a new beginning, and I will make up for everything my daughter was deprived of, God willing," she said.
'WITH TIME, THE LITTLE GIRL WILL KNOW US'
Like many of the others, Al-Kurd's daughter Bissan was transported from Gaza to Egypt two years ago in an incubator, a journey doctors said had seriously threatened her life.
Seven of the 29 infants evacuated died while in Egypt, doctors said. Beyond the 11 who returned to Gaza, the remaining children were with family outside of the Palestinian territory, the doctors said.
Al-Kurd said she was afraid Bissan, dressed in white with a unicorn bow in her hair, wouldn't recognize her. She brought Bissan snacks and a green balloon to try to get her to smile and feel comfortable.
"She still doesn't know who her mother is, who her father is, who her family is. So, we're trying with her little by little, and hopefully, things will improve with time, the girl will know us," Al-Kurd said.
Bissan has two living siblings. A sister, Habiba, was killed the day Bissan was born.
An Israeli airstrike hit their family home in Gaza's Beit Lahiya town in October 2023, killing her and nine other members of their family. Al-Kurd, who was eight months pregnant, was wounded and doctors had to perform a cesarean delivery to save Bissan's life.
The family now lives in a tent encampment in Gaza City.
"She (Bissan) will compensate for the loss of her sister and everyone I lost," said the mother.
HOSPITALS, NEONATAL UNITS DESTROYED DURING WAR
The mission to reunite the children with their parents was enabled by a U.S.-brokered deal last October that brought a halt to most fighting and later saw Israel reopen Gaza's sole border crossing with Egypt.
During the two-year war, Israel regularly accused Hamas and other militants of using hospitals to store weapons and obscure tunnels and fighters. It has published photos and video that it says shows tunnels dug below hospitals. The groups deny this.
Israel's attacks destroyed and damaged medical facilities and neonatal units across Gaza. Facilities for newborn babies, particularly those with health issues, are sorely needed, said Mohamed Abu Selmia, director of Al Shifa Hospital.
"There is also a shortage of essential medications for premature infants, specialized infant formula, and respiratory support medications," he added.
Around 52% of basic medicines are unavailable in Gaza, while 75% of medical supplies are unavailable, said Abu Selmia.
(Writing by Rami AyyubEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
