As the first birthday of Hanane Bayouk’s triplets approaches, the Gaza-born mother is filled with despair, having only seen her newborn daughters once since their birth in Jerusalem. Bayouk, 26, gave birth to her triplets—Najoua, Nour, and Najmeh—on August 24, 2023, after enduring seven years of IVF treatments. However, her joy was short-lived, as she was forced to return to Gaza just hours after their birth due to her Israeli travel permit expiring.
Bayouk had hoped to reunite with her daughters after a few weeks, once they were strong enough to leave the incubators at Jerusalem’s Al-Maqased hospital. But just two days after applying for a new permit on October 5, the war erupted, leaving Bayouk stranded in Gaza, unable to return to her babies.
Similarly, Heba Idriss, another Gaza mother, remains separated from her prematurely born daughter, Saida, who is also in the Maqased hospital. Trapped in the chaos of war, Heba and her husband Saleh have been displaced multiple times by airstrikes, and Saleh has only seen their daughter through photos.
Both mothers now live in a state of constant anguish, unable to care for or even hold their children. Bayouk, now residing in a displacement camp, expresses her heartbreak: “It drives me crazy. It took me so long to get pregnant, and now I’m crying all the time. Sometimes, I wish my daughters could return to Gaza before I die, but then I remind myself they are safer far from the war.”
The neonatal intensive care unit at Maqased, usually bustling with babies from Gaza, is quieter now. With travel permits scarce and checkpoints more restrictive, fewer mothers from Gaza and the West Bank can access the specialist care their newborns need. The hospital staff, despite the challenging circumstances, try to bridge the gap by allowing Bayouk to speak to her daughters over the phone—a small comfort amidst her overwhelming sorrow. “I’m afraid my daughters will grow up without knowing me,” she confides, her voice filled with fear and longing.
