CAIRO/GAZA — Bissan owes her birth to an airstrike.

Two weeks into the war in Gaza in October 2023, an Israeli attack tore through her family's home in Beit Lahiya, near the Israeli border, killing a sister she would never meet. The blast severely injured her pregnant mother, who was forced to deliver Bissan six weeks early to save both their lives.

Weeks later, the newborn was driven to Egypt in an ambulance while still inside an incubator, part of a group of 29 preterm infants evacuated from a neonatal hospital ward as Israel's invading forces drew near. Preterm infants depend on incubators and continuous specialized care, and the newborns were separated from their parents, who remained in Gaza. Seven of those babies died in Egypt. Bissan survived.

While she grew in Egyptian hospitals and a care home, her mother, Sundus al-Kurd, never gave up hope of reunion. From Gaza, as the war raged on, Ms. Al-Kurd made video calls to her daughter whenever she could find internet access — the only contact the two had.

In March this year, with a ceasefire ostensibly in place, Bissan was returned to Gaza after more than two years in Egyptian care, in a mission assisted by the UN, together with 10 other children from the same group evacuated as preterm babies. When mother and daughter finally met in person, Bissan did not recognize her, Ms. Al-Kurd said. The girl, now 2-1/2 years old, would say "mama" to any woman who showed her kindness.

Reuters documented their reunion and followed the family, along with several of the other children, in the months that followed as they slowly built bonds with their mothers and fathers. Their stories trace one of the war's least visible human costs: infants who survived the fighting, but spent their earliest years apart from the parents waiting for them. These are their stories.

Getting Used to Explosions

For a toddler, returning to Gaza meant learning to live in a war zone, where Israeli airstrikes have continued despite the ceasefire agreed a year ago between Israel and Hamas.

When Bissan first heard the booms, she would freeze in fear for several minutes, her mother said. She still begins to panic if a balloon pops near her.

"Her life changed. Her life became sleeping and waking up to the sound of explosions, to the sound of the numerous attacks and missiles," said Ms. Al-Kurd.

On a sunny morning soon after their reunion, mother and daughter visited a small zoo in central Gaza. Bissan, who wears pink-framed glasses, gazed in awe as a blue parrot latched onto her mother's arm.

'He Was Supposed to Call Me Dad'

Of the 11 preterm babies evacuated to Egypt in November 2023 and returned to Gaza this year, not all were able to meet their mothers. For baby Ibrahim, it was already too late.

His mother, Israa Badr, fell into a deep depression after her son — born during her eighth month of pregnancy — was evacuated to Egypt. She died the following month.

"Doctors told us she died of sorrow, of sadness," said her husband, Jabri Badr. "Ever since he was in her womb, she thought about him, dreamed of holding him, playing with, and feeling what it was like to be a mother."

Ibrahim is now reunited with his father in Gaza, but Mr. Badr said the two have struggled to connect.

"He was supposed to call me dad. Today he doesn't even say dad, or anything. I tell him to come, and he ignores me."

Arafat Abu Mashayikh, a Gaza-based mental health expert, said that after two years apart, it was natural that it would take time for parents to connect with their children.

Mother's Milk, and Her Embrace

Bissan, Ibrahim and the other children "were deprived not only of their mother's milk but also of her embrace and the emotional development that comes with it," Mr. Abu Mashayikh said.

Rebuilding the bond takes time. On some days, Bissan and Ms. Al-Kurd walk down to Gaza's Mediterranean shore. On a recent afternoon, they held hands as they walked along the line where the sand meets the sea. Bissan flashed a big smile as she gazed out to the horizon.

The evenings are more difficult, but they still bring mother and daughter closer together, Ms. Al-Kurd said. When explosions ring out in the middle of the night, Bissan wakes up and seeks out her mother's care.

"Bissan has begun to understand who mama really is, who her mother really is," Ms. Al-Kurd said. "I am the only person present in her life. I am the one who feeds her, changes her clothes, combs her hair, and plays with her."

— Reuters

Source: Reuters via BusinessWorld — Evacuated in an incubator, now back in Gaza getting to know mama, October 2, 2026.