Investigative Report Gaza The Hiroshima of the 21st Century The Effects of the Israeli Genocide and Internationally Prohibited Weapons Against the People of the Strip Have infiltrated to Fetuses in their mother’s womb
Date: 6 Dec 2025
Investigative Report
Gaza: “The Hiroshima of the 21st Century”.. The Effects of the Israeli Genocide and Internationally Prohibited Weapons Against the People of the Strip Have infiltrated to Fetuses in their mother’s womb
Written by: Samar Saleh, journalist at the Egyptian newspaper Al-Watan
The war in Gaza has left destruction that goes beyond rubble and has infiltrated wombs, leaving its mark in the maternity ward at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza. The clock was pointing to around 12 PM on May 1, 2025. The air was heavy, the smell of disinfectants mixed with gunpowder and ash. The windows were covered with rusty metal sheets for protection from bomb shrapnel, and the sounds of explosions echoed in the background, filling the void between the beeps of medical monitoring devices.
In that moment when the sky above the city ignited, Gaza was blessed with a new soul named “Malak,” a newborn who did not cry like other babies. She emerged in silence until the supervising doctor—Dr. Osama Al-Thoum—stood before her in astonishment after seeing her without a fully formed head, with a clear deformity in the skull bones that he had never seen before in his years of work. “Malak” is not the first newborn afflicted with congenital deformities in Gaza during the war, but she is by far the strangest. The mother, who spent her pregnancy months under bombardment, did not realize that her daughter’s body was forming abnormally in an environment contaminated with toxic substances. As for the father, Ahmed Fayez Al-Qanoua, he could not control his nerves upon seeing his newborn in this state. According to his to “Al-Watan,” he is the father of two children, “Bisan and Muhammad,” who were born without deformities, and the entire family has no history of giving birth to a child with any deformities. How could his newborn come into the world with this amount of deformity?!.
The supervising doctor assured Malak’s family that the cause was the mother’s inhalation of toxic substances resulting from the shelling the city was subjected to during her pregnancy, in addition to malnutrition and lack of routine follow-up during pregnancy. All of this resulted in a deformed child fighting for life before even entering the world.
17 days of waiting between life and death, which “Malak” spent in her parents’ arms. During this time, she received doses of artificial milk through tubes connected to her body by doctors in the hope that she would live, but she could not endure and passed away on the 17th day after her birth.
After two full years, the war has almost ended, and the sounds of cannons have quieted following an agreement between the two parties to the conflict. But in Gaza—as in Hiroshima, Japan, which witnessed the greatest number of deformities resulting from the atomic bomb—tragedies are not measured by the number of airstrikes, nor are losses counted only by the number of victims. There are unseen effects that remain suspended in the air, course through the blood, and are etched on the faces of survivors.
Medical reports and field testimonies reveal a disturbing increase in cases of fetal deformities in Gaza during the period between 2023 and 2025, amid escalating accusations from doctors, experts, human rights, and international organizations that Israel used internationally prohibited weapons against unarmed civilians during the two years of war.
The reality in Gaza’s hospitals tells even more terrifying stories. Obstetricians stand helpless before rare cases of congenital deformities among newborns and fetuses in the wombs, which had not occurred before. Hospital records have documented a noticeable rise in deformities since the beginning of the aggression, amid a severe shortage of medical capabilities and equipment necessary for examination or treatment.
Hekmah” Born with a Cleft Lip
The case of the girl “Malak,” who was born without a fully formed head at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza Strip, is not the only one during the war on Gaza. On August 19, 2025, Al-Sahaba Medical Complex was awaiting the birth of a new soul that would bring hope to a family exhausted by displacement and whose unity was shattered by the war. However, hope lasted only a few minutes before turning into despair and suffering.
“A third-degree cleft lip with a clear deformity in the face and jaws”—words with which the doctor diagnosed the condition of the girl “Hekmah Nowfal,” shaking the ground from under her father’s feet and adding to the pains of childbirth for her mother. The family and the entire extended family had no prior birth of a child with congenital deformities. This is how the father, Mohammed Nowfal, began his statements to “Al-Watan,” from inside a tent where he resides after the occupation destroyed his home in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza.
The 32-year-old father and 27-year-old mother had previously given birth to two girls without any troubles or congenital deformities. According to the father’s account, doctors explained the infant “Hekmah’s” condition as most likely resulting from war remnants and the mother’s inhalation of toxic gases like phosphorus and the smell of gunpowder from rockets that raided their home during her pregnancy.
“A difficult pregnancy and labor in inhumane living conditions”—a harsh and painful journey that the mother “Nada” endured, during which she suffered from a complete lack of medicines, contaminated water, and the absence of healthy food needed by any pregnant woman, not to mention the lack of nutritional supplements and vitamins necessary for the health of the mother and fetus. All of this led to the birth of a deformed girl whom the doctors cannot even treat inside the Strip.
The family of the infant “Hekmah” has issued repeated appeals through social media pages to urge officials to arrange for her treatment abroad, especially after the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, to alleviate the infant’s suffering and restore hope to her family.
Unprecedented Deformities
“Over 25 years of my professional career as a pediatric consultant, I have never seen such deformities among newborns before.” These words were expressed by Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, pediatric consultant and director general of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, describing the situation in the nurseries and maternity hospitals in the Strip, considering it dangerous and possibly affecting future generations for several consecutive years even if the war stops.
Abu Salmiya continues his discussion of the consequences of the prohibited weapon used by the Israeli occupation against civilians in Gaza, confirming that congenital deformities may continue among newborns for years to come and will not end with the war’s conclusion, due to the quantity of weapons used and also the pollution present in Gaza’s environment and the bodies of its people. He compares this to what happened in the incident of dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.
In September 2025, “Abu Salmiya” received a birth case of a girl—not the only one he encountered but perhaps the most gruesome one—born in the eighth month of pregnancy, meaning prematurely before her full growth, and suffering from a strange deformity, as he described it: a large tumor in the coccyx area, heavier than her size. He explained this as resulting from severe pollution infiltrating the bodies of Gaza’s people from toxic and chemical substances, in addition to malnutrition, which has produced an entire generation suffering—some surviving with intractable deformities, and others dying because they could not endure life.
Cluster Bombs and White Phosphorus
Regarding the weapons used by Israel in its war, there are criteria for classifying the international weapons used. In this context, Nidal Abu Zaid, the Palestinian military and strategic expert, confirms that cluster bombs were used in the war on Gaza, in addition to the repeated use of white phosphorus in operations carried out by the enemy against citizens of northern Gaza when the displacement plan began.
“White phosphorus and cluster bombs” are among the weapons used for human extermination, and the occupation used them in its war that lasted two years on the Strip. This is in addition to the use of explosive robots carrying between 6 and 7 tons of TNT explosives, and other weapons that lead to the complete destruction of residential blocks in a single strike—all of which are internationally prohibited. According to “Abu Zaid,” the effects of using those weapons became evident in the burns that appeared on the bodies of the injured and the scars on the skin of the victims, which are not ordinary burns but confirm the use of internationally prohibited white phosphorus.
The Palestinian military expert referred to a previous report by “Human Rights Watch,” which verified video footage captured on October 10, 2023, showing multiple aerial explosions of white phosphorus fired by artillery over the port of Gaza City. The international organization identified the type of munitions used in the raid as 155 mm white phosphorus artillery shells that explode in the air, emitting thick white smoke and a garlic smell—both characteristics of white phosphorus.
International Counter-Terrorism Expert: There Is a Similarity Between the Effects of the Hiroshima Bomb and the Weapons Used by the Israeli Army Against Gaza’s People
What Is Meant by Internationally Prohibited Weapons?
Colonel Hatem Saber, an Egyptian expert in international counter-terrorism and information warfare, explains to us what is meant by internationally prohibited weapons: those whose use is prohibited or restricted under international laws and conventions because they cause excessive human suffering, or do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, or leave long-term effects on humans and the environment. These prohibitions are determined under the Geneva and Hague Conventions, the Chemical and Biological Weapons Ban Conventions, the Cluster Munitions and Mines Conventions, in addition to customary rules that bind all states not to use indiscriminate or excessively destructive weapons.
Classification of Weapons Under International Law
Types of bombs and weapons are usually identified from the destruction effects resulting from them, which Colonel Hatem Saber explained to us. The occupation used white phosphorus, an incendiary substance that causes immediate ignition and fatal burns and is prohibited against civilian targets. As for the high-explosive munitions also used by the brutal occupation, they cause massive destruction in populated areas and do not distinguish between military and civilian targets. Finally, vacuum bombs (thermal-pressure) generate enormous heat and pressure inside voids, causing building collapses and suffocation of those inside.
All of the above leads to the collapse of residential facilities and public infrastructure, pollutes the air and water, complicates firefighting and rescue efforts, and creates massive pressure waves that destroy walls and roofs, causing buildings to collapse. This makes residential neighborhoods uninhabitable. Colonel “Saber” confirms that using prohibited weapons or carrying out indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The penalties include international judicial prosecution and issuing arrest warrants for military and political officials, in addition to the possibility of imposing international sanctions on the state or entity responsible. He notes that states parties to the “Geneva Conventions” on protecting civilians in times of war are obligated to prosecute perpetrators of such violations even if they occur outside their territories.
Hiroshima, Japan, and Gaza’s Bombs
Despite the temporal and spatial distance separating the incident of dropping the atomic bomb on “Hiroshima” from Gaza—thousands of kilometers and more than eight decades—both share one tragedy: deformed generations fighting death before even coming to life.
Regarding the similarity between Hiroshima, Japan, and the situation in Gaza, Colonel Hatem Saber confirms that there is certainly a common factor between the effects of the two atomic bombs dropped by the United States on “Hiroshima and Nagasaki” and the conventional and incendiary chemical weapons recently used in Gaza.
Militarily, it can be asserted with a high level of certainty that internationally prohibited weapons or those used in ways that violate international law principles—”incendiary, cluster, high-impact explosive, toxic substances”—leave effects that extend temporally after the end of combat operations, regardless of the length of this period. This is controlled by many factors, including, for example but not limited to, unexploded ordnance that remains on the ground and poses an immediate ongoing danger to civilians during relief and reconstruction efforts, according to “Saber.” Also, environmental pollution in the form of debris, chemical materials, or explosive remnants contaminating the soil and water, affecting food chains and public health for many years, according to Egyptian Colonel Hatem Saber, international counter-terrorism expert.
Preventing Medicines and Supplements
But it is not only Israeli weapons accused in this silent crime; the shortage of essential vitamins like folic acid and iron, and the absence of appropriate food and treatments for pregnant women due to the imposed siege on the Strip, is another accused that weakened mothers’ and newborns’ bodies and contributed to the collapse of the natural growth process inside the wombs.
This is what the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics pointed out in a statement on International Women’s Day, March 8 of this year, confirming that women and children represent 70% of the victims of the Israeli aggression and genocide war. Moreover, women in the Gaza Strip suffer from difficulty securing their basic needs like food and water, and are unable to provide the necessary health care for their injured children due to the collapse of the health system and the restrictions imposed by the occupation on importing vital medical supplies, and targeting hospitals and medical teams.
The Central Bureau of Statistics expects the age and gender composition of the population to be affected as a result of the deliberate targeting of specific population groups like children and youth, considering that this leads to distorting the population pyramid shape amid expectations of a decline in the number of births in the coming years.
Increase in Miscarriage Cases During the War
In addition to the above, Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and one of the Gaza Health Ministry spokespersons, confirmed that the war’s repercussions do not only include congenital deformities of fetuses but also extend to a rise in early miscarriage cases, both targeting fetuses inside the wombs. Since the beginning of the war, hospitals have received about 12,000 miscarriage cases for pregnant women and a large number of premature births, some suffering from congenital deformities like hydrocephalus in the brain or atrophy or heart deformities, according to Health statistics, as quoted by “Al-Daqran.”
“Gaza Health”: 60,000 Pregnant Women Face Death Daily.. And Since the Beginning of 2025 Until Mid-Year, 17,000 Birth Cases Were Recorded Compared to 29,000 Cases in the Same Period in 2022
There are no reliable data showing the number of miscarriage cases in Gaza before the war, whether in official reports or reliable academic research, but all official sources speak of a rise in miscarriage cases after the war erupted. According to the Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson, there are also about 60,000 pregnant women who still face death daily. Since the beginning of 2025 until mid-year, only 17,000 birth cases were recorded, compared to 29,000 in the same period in 2022, a decline exceeding 41%, due to malnutrition, the siege, and inhalation of toxic gases resulting from the use of prohibited weapons in the war.
“Congenital deformities in newborns in general during wars can be linked to several factors, as wars expose pregnant women and newborns to unnatural conditions like
environmental pollution from weapon remnants, food shortages, interruption of medical care, severe psychological stress, and direct exposure to toxic or radioactive substances. All of the above, pregnant women in Gaza have been exposed to since the war erupted,” according to “Al-Daqran.”
There are other indirect effects—besides deformities—that affect the newborn due to the war, such as miscarriage and premature birth, low birth weight, weakened immunity, and delayed physical or mental growth. All of this targets fetuses and future generations, according to the Health spokesperson in Gaza. He adds: “Most cases of children with congenital deformities end in death, especially since the majority are heart deformities that require surgery in the first week after birth, and this is not available in Gaza Strip hospitals.”
A Living Example from Inside the Tents
“Hadeer,” the wife of journalist and TV correspondent “Saif Al-Suwaiti,” was a living example of what the Health spokesperson in Gaza said: there is more than congenital deformities for newborns, and many pregnant women have been—and still are—exposed to early miscarriage, especially in the last two months of pregnancy, where the fetus dies in its mother’s womb after long months of health troubles.
In the midst of a displacement tent in southern Gaza, journalist “Saif Al-Suwaiti’s” heart was hanging by a thin thread of hope amid all this tragedy. There, a girl is growing in his wife’s womb after two boys, and the news of his wife’s pregnancy was a source of optimism for him amid all this misery that he and his family are experiencing.
Al-Suwaiti’s displacement journey with his wife and two young children began on October 20, 2023, a few days after the war started. He was displaced five times after his home was shelled and was forced to leave the place with his wife and children in search of a safe place to shelter them amid this devastation, like searching for a needle in a haystack.
In February 2024, “Hadeer” learned she was carrying a soul pulsing inside her, resisting life’s hardships for her sake, with new hope for her and her husband. At that time, she was living in a tent in Al-Zawiya town in the Palestinian city of Rafah, her first time living in a tent after being accustomed to luxury and living in a beautiful house with all life’s amenities. But now she is in a place with no luxury or life at all, as she described it.
A restless head and a heart with racing beats out of fear every moment—this is how “Hadeer” lived through her pregnancy months. Inside her was a storm of joyful feelings mixed with anxiety. It was a very difficult journey she endured, like other pregnant women in the occupied Strip, where all elements of life were absent, let alone the simplest basic living requirements.
Despite her pregnancy, she began kneading flour with her hands, lighting firewood to cook food due to the lack of a gas stove or cooker after being displaced from her home, leaving everything she owned. She exerted double effort to wash clothes and provide the required care for her husband and two children, without getting enough daily nutrition required for the health of the pregnant woman and the fetus. This is how “Al-Suwaiti” described his wife’s suffering during pregnancy amid war conditions, where markets were devoid of fresh vegetables and fruits and sources of animal protein necessary for a pregnant woman’s health.
Al-Suwaiti did everything in his power in terms of effort and money to try to provide some food and necessary vitamins for his wife to maintain her health and the fetus’s health, but it was like an impossible mission. The occupation tightened its control on the Strip, so medicines and nutritional supplements disappeared, as it demolished hospitals and health care places, making routine follow-up with an obstetrician impossible.
Inhaling a large amount of toxic substances, and the severe psychological stress and tension that “Hadeer” is exposed to every day, caused severe complications for her until she miscarried in the eighth month and lost her daughter whom she had chosen the name “Karaz” for, according to her husband, quoting the doctors he consulted after the miscarriage.
Medical Reports Obtained by “Al-Watan”
In this investigation, we did not settle for obtaining verbal testimonies from doctors and health spokespeople in Gaza, but “Al-Watan” obtained “sonar” reports and documented data from the maternity department at Nasser Medical Complex, via Palestinian doctor Ghasan Muslim, consultant in obstetrics and gynecology and head of the women’s and maternity department at Nasser Medical Complex. They indicate a noticeable rise in rates of congenital deformities among fetuses and newborns during two full years since the war erupted in 2023 until 2025.
Types of Congenital Deformities
Head of the women’s and maternity department at Nasser Medical Complex, Dr. Ghasan Muslim, detailed the deformities and disorders that may be recorded among newborns in war zones, including nervous system deformities or what is scientifically known as “spina bifida,” which is the absence of part of the brain. Also, congenital heart deformities represented by a hole between the atria or ventricles or defects in the major arteries like arterial transposition. The deformities, according to “Ghasan Muslim,” may manifest in incomplete limbs, such as underdevelopment of the hand or foot, finger deformities, urinary and reproductive system deformities, and face and mouth deformities like cleft lip and cleft palate.
Upon in-depth reading of the data collected by the head of the women’s and maternity department at Nasser Medical Complex, it became clear that there are three types of congenital defects observed among newborns in Gaza during the period from 2023-2025: neural tube defects, congenital lung defects, and congenital heart deformities.
Among these three types, “Ghasan” confirms that congenital heart deformities among fetuses and newborns are the most prevalent in Gaza since the war erupted and are increasing clearly over time. He notes that the highest rate was in 2025. Congenital heart deformities vary, according to the Palestinian doctor, between septal defects, valve stenosis, and tetralogy of Fallot. He attributes this definitely to increased exposure of pregnant women to harmful environmental or chemical factors during pregnancy, or lack of medical follow-up and absence of proper nutrition and vitamins and nutritional supplements due to the siege imposed on the Strip, which hinders the availability of medicines and nutritional supplements, with folic acid at the forefront, important for the mother and fetus’s health and reducing the likelihood of fetal deformities.
The total number of congenital deformity cases during 2024 reached 55 cases recorded only at Nasser Medical Complex. The first seven months of 2025 alone recorded about 14 deformity cases in the same medical complex, compared to only one case in the same period in 2023. This indicates a noticeable rise in fetal deformities, according to the data sent to us by the head of the women’s and maternity department at Nasser Medical Complex. The Palestinian doctor confirmed that the effects may extend for many years among future generations in Gaza even if the war stops, as those toxic and chemical substances remain suspended in nature and human bodies for a period of time.
“Al-Watan” tried to contact Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, director general of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, but it turned out he is detained by the occupation, which refused to release him in the last deal. In previous media statements, “Al-Hams” confirmed that fetal deformity cases have exceeded normal levels, recording about 200 cases per 1,000 births, compared to the normal rate set by the World Health Organization, which is only 40 cases. He added that remnants of toxic substances resulting from shelling led to a sharp rise in the percentage of congenital defects among new births, with high levels of “dioxins” found in the blood of pregnant mothers and breast milk.
According to the official website of the World Health Organization, “dioxins” are environmental pollutants belonging to what is called the dirty group, a group of dangerous chemical substances. These substances raise concern due to their high toxicity potential. Experiments have shown that they affect several organs and systems, and dioxins, after entering the human body, can persist for a long time due to their chemical stability and ease of absorption by fatty tissue where they are stored. Their half-life ranges between 7 years and 11 years. In the environment, dioxins accumulate in the food chain, and notably, their concentration increases as we climb that chain.
Gaza’s Population Pyramid
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the Gaza Strip witnessed a noticeable decline in population by 6% since the October 7 war erupted, a dangerous indicator threatening Gaza’s people’s future. This is after Gaza was one of the most densely populated areas in the world, according to statistics. According to the Palestinian statistics, about 2.3 million Palestinians resided in the Gaza Strip before October 7, 2023. The Strip’s age composition indicated a high proportion of youth and children. Moreover, the annual birth rate in the Strip was estimated at about 60,000 birth cases before the war.
Comparing the numbers issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics before the war with the numbers issued by the same bureau 15 months after the war shows a clear impact on the Gaza Strip’s population pyramid. The estimated number of Gaza Strip residents for 2024 declined by about 160,000 Palestinians to reach 2.1 million, a 6% decline from the 2023 population estimates for the Gaza Strip. Among them, more than one million children under 18, constituting 47% of the Strip’s population. The proportion of individuals under 30 years old declined to 65%, and the proportion of individuals over 65 years old reached 4%.
Targeting Fertility Centers in Gaza
The scene grew darker, and the last thread of hope that Gaza’s people clung to was severed. The occupation did not content itself with targeting pregnant women and fetuses in wombs but extended its war deeper than the body, directing its weapons at fertilized fetuses in fertility centers, most prominently Al-Basma Center, the largest fertility and IVF center in the Strip. This can be described as ethnic cleansing against Gaza’s people.
Hundreds of fertilized embryos burned inside the center’s walls before seeing the light, but they represented the only hope for families deprived of the blessing of procreation by circumstances. This was confirmed by Dr. Baha Al-Ghulayni, obstetrics and gynecology consultant and IVF and director of Al-Basma Fertility Center, pointing out that the number of embryos targeted by the occupation inside Al-Basma Center was 4,000 embryos.
As for the number of sperm and eggs that were undergoing fertilization, it reached about 1,000 units. All of that dissipated in the shelling after long steps of tests, analyses, treatments, and a precise surgical procedure to extract the egg or sperm, fertilization under a microscope, then freezing and storage in a liquid nitrogen container at -180 degrees Celsius, as he described.
Losing a comprehensive center of this size in medical equipment is considered a major loss in birth rates in the Strip and a brutal targeting of f embryos, especially since a percentage of the owners of these eggs and sperm cannot reproduce naturally for medical reasons, and for these, their hope of having children ends.
Al-Basma Center was one of only two centers in the Strip working on fertilizing smuggled semen from Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons to give hope to their wives for procreation. By destroying it and killing about 4,000 embryos inside the center’s incubators, the dream of these prisoners and their families ended.
International Law’s Position
International humanitarian law grants women in times of conflict general protection as civilians, in addition to special protection. Pregnant women fall under the category of “wounded persons” in times of conflict, and thus they benefit from the same special protection and respect granted to the wounded and sick under humanitarian law (Geneva Convention 4, Article 16; Protocol 1, Article 8).
The parties to the conflict must also seek to transfer pregnant women to hospitals or to safe areas outside besieged and cordoned areas according to Geneva Convention 4 (Articles 14, 16, 17, 21, and 22). Whether evacuated or not, they must be provided with necessary assistance, and similarly, children under 15 in areas belonging to one of the conflict parties must benefit from the special services provided to the nationals of the concerned state according to Geneva Convention 4 (Article 38-5).
A Crime Awaiting Accountability
Perhaps many mothers in Gaza do not realize that their children, who have not yet been born, are destined to bear the scars of a war they did not live or participate in. What the facts reveal today is that the effects of the Israeli aggression do not stop at the borders of destroyed homes and lost souls but extend deep into bodies and wombs. In Gaza, the genocide does not stop at the end of the bombing but infiltrates through blood, air, food, and water. Fetuses are targeted before birth, and childhood is erased before it begins—an extermination that extends for years, no less deadly than the bomb that fell on Hiroshima eight decades ago. It is the crime that remains awaiting accountability one day.
Quoted from Watan Newspaper
