UN: Gaza airstrikes kill pregnant woman; doctors save baby in Rafah

Israeli bombardment continued across Gaza, killing a 30‑week pregnant woman and prompting an emergency cesarean that saved her baby, United Nations agencies said.

The incident, reported by the U.N. Population Fund and described by its Palestine representative, illustrates broader health and mental‑health strains in the enclave as aid remains limited and casualties mount.

According to Dominic Allen, UNFPA representative for Palestine, doctors in Rafah performed an emergency cesarean after a woman sustained fatal injuries in an airstrike. "Heroic doctors in Gaza were able to save the life of the baby from the womb of the mother as she, passed away from the, head injury she'd sustained. And this, emergency cesarean section, which was delivered at a hospital in Rafa, ensured that the baby's life could continue. But sadly, the mother, Sabrine Elsakani, who was 30 weeks pregnant, lost her life, was killed through, through these, through her injuries sustained by these air strikes," Allen said.

Doctor Tlaleng Mofokeng, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to health, told journalists in Geneva that prolonged exposure to violence has deep effects on mental health among civilians and health workers. "It was not normal to anticipate that your life could be extinguished in any moment, nor for children to grow up with that level of trauma. But for decades, that has been normalized for the people of occupied Palestinian territory," Mofokeng said.

Gazan health authorities, cited by U.N. reporting, said more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and about 77,000 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7. The U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said a child dies about every 10 minutes in the enclave and issued a fresh call to end the violence and to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The case of Sabrine Elsakani and the emergency operation highlights immediate clinical and mental‑health needs in Gaza, U.N. officials said, while reinforcing appeals from aid agencies for safe, sustained access for medical supplies and personnel.