Gaza’s unseen casualties: A surge in stillbirths and birth defects

Gaza – In a neonatal unit at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, newborn babies are fighting for their lives against severe congenital anomalies linked to the harsh conditions of Israel’s genocidal war.

Two-month-old Osama was born with a hole in his heart and enlarged ventricles in his brain. His mother, Najia Zurub, has not left the hospital since his birth.

“I became pregnant with him during the war, and the pregnancy was exhausting due to the lack of food,” Zurub said, adding that she was living in tents without access to safe drinking water. The severe strain and stress forced her to deliver early. Doctors confirmed that Osama’s condition is not genetic, noting he is her first child and there is no family history of such health issues.

Osama shares the ward with two-week-old Ahmed, who is showing signs of hydrocephalus – an excess of fluid in the brain’s ventricles, which causes pressure on brain tissues – and two-month-old Suheir, who was born with multiple deformities affecting her mouth and ears. Earlier in the day, the unit held five babies with congenital anomalies, but baby Fatama was rushed to intensive care to fight for her life, and another infant, Iyal, passed away.

An unprecedented surge

While it is often difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of specific congenital anomalies, health officials in Gaza state that the sheer number of cases they are currently seeing is unprecedented.

According to the Ministry of Health, cases of congenital anomalies doubled in 2025 compared with 2022. The rate of stillbirths also surged by 140 percent during the same period. Last year alone, there were 457 neonatal deaths, marking a 50 percent increase from before the war.

Zaher al-Wahidi, director of the Health Information Unit at the Health Ministry of Health, attributed these staggering figures to five main factors: Widespread hunger, the severe decline in healthcare services, severe overcrowding, exposure to contaminated drinking water, and other ongoing effects of Israeli air attacks.

Asaad al-Nawajha, a paediatrician and neonatology specialist at Nasser Hospital, expressed deep concern over internal anomalies affecting vital organs. He explained that these conditions typically develop when a fetus is exposed to adverse environmental factors during the first trimester, a critical period for organ formation. With medical resources now severely depleted, doctors warn that some of these affected babies simply cannot be treated.

A systemic collapse

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 20,000 children. The conflict has also physically prevented many Palestinian women from carrying their pregnancies to term. At the height of the Israeli bombardment, live births in the Strip plummeted by more than 30 percent. While the numbers recovered slightly last year, they remain well below pre-war levels.