Mother Jones; Getty; photo courtesy of Bridget Rochios
At the last maternity and neonatal hospital in Rafah, the devastation has already arrived. “There is no safe place in Gaza from a healthcare perspective—and beyond,” Bridget Rochios, a certified nurse-midwife from California volunteering at Al-Helal Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital, told me.
As Israel prepares a ground invasion of Rafah, Rochios—who is working with the Canadian healthcare organization Gila and talked to me by told me by phone on Thursday afternoon—says the hospital has seen a massive influx of patients. It is running low on the most basic supplies like gloves and scissors. Humanitarian experts have warned of catastrophic consequences if Israel does invade Rafah. In a statement Sunday, Natalia Kanem, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, said that “an attack in Rafah could turn [Al-Emirati Hospital] and other health facilities from places of hope into rubble and dust.”
American and Israeli officials, meanwhile, have traded barbs. President Biden told CNN on Wednesday that he will stop shipping certain weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proceeds with a major ground invasion of Rafah. “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah…I’m not supplying the weapons,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett. White House Spokesperson John Kirby added Thursday that Biden does not believe “smashing into Rafah” will help take out Hamas. Netanyahu seemed to fire back at Biden’s threats, saying, “if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”
But Rochios wants the world to know the impact of the war on Gaza’s children: “The bombing and shelling is incessant. It is happening. And there’s nowhere else to go.” That means the lives of 50 newborns in the hospital’s intensive care hang in the balance: if the hospital is ordered to evacuate, none of those babies would survive transportation, Rochios said.
I spoke with her about daily life at the hospital under the bombardment.
This interview has been lightly condensed and edited.
Can you say more about how an invasion of Rafah will affect births in Gaza?
What birth has looked like since October has been chaotic and disrespectful. And it’s not for a lack of effort on the side of health care workers in Palestine—but because of an almost 20-year blockade that already........