Fetus, children burned alive: Gaza footage pierces human conscience
5 Min Read
Israeli airstrikes continue to devastate Gaza, with families wiped out, children buried under rubble, and famine tightening its grip as aid remains blocked.
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Imam Islam Abu Suaied prays over the bodies of two babies before their burial at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 (AP)
Hospitals received the bodies of 113 martyrs, including 13 retrieved from under the rubble, and 534 injuries over 24 hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Wednesday. Many victims remain trapped beneath debris and along roads, unreachable due to continued bombardment.
Since October 7, 2023, as of July 23, 2025, the toll of the Israeli genocide in Gaza has surged to 59,219 Palestinians killed and 143,045 others injured.
The Israeli attacks since March 18, 2025, have added significantly to this toll, with 8,363 martyrs and 31,004 injuries recorded during this period alone.
"Israel" committed yet another horrific Israeli massacre today in #Gaza's Tal al-Hawa.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 23, 2025
A Palestinian first responder described the massacre in which children were charred and a fetus was lying lifeless beside its mother, also killed in the attack.
This is a single massacre… pic.twitter.com/DK4eWC9R3v
Starvation, malnutrition death toll
Moreover, as the Israeli-made famine batters Gaza, 10 starved Palestinians died in 24 hours. The death toll among Palestinians who died due to starvation and malnutrition as a result of the brutal Israeli blockade has now reached 111.
Meanwhile, 34 starved Palestinians were killed and over 644 others were injured in the past 24 hours while trying to receive aid at designated "aid distribution sites," as per the Ministry's report.
The death toll among Palestinians killed while seeking food aid in designated distribution zones has now climbed to 1,060, with more than 7,207 others wounded, according to the report.
Israeli genocide continues unabated
Israeli forces continued their relentless assault on civilian areas across Gaza, striking homes, displacement shelters, and densely populated neighborhoods with mounting ferocity.
One of the most devastating attacks unfolded in the Tal al-Hawa district, where a pre-dawn Israeli airstrike targeted an apartment belonging to the al-Shaer family, killing nine people.
In the strike’s chilling aftermath, a video emerged that has since shaken global audiences: the charred remains of a fetus, forcibly torn from his mother’s womb by the sheer force of the Israeli airstrike, cradled beside its lifeless mother. The footage, captured amid the rubble, quickly went viral, unleashing a tidal wave of grief, fury, and disbelief.
The haunting image, innocence reduced to ash, has become an unshakable symbol of Gaza’s agony, laying bare the unbearable human cost of war and igniting international outrage at the staggering civilian toll.
Concurrently, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that at least 15 people were wounded, and several children remain missing beneath the debris. The strike occurred near the headquarters of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation.
Relentless airstrikes
In the al-Shati' refugee camp, an Israeli warplane bombed a tent sheltering displaced families in a public park, killing a young girl and injuring 11 others, mostly children.
Gaza City’s al-Zaytoun neighborhood endured twin air raids on Wednesday morning, followed by naval shelling of the coast.
In central Gaza, a strike near Al-Aybaki Mosque in al-Daraj killed one person and injured another, our correspondent added. Similar scenes unfolded in the al-Bureij refugee camp, where Israeli forces bombarded residential buildings and opened fire on surrounding homes.
In al-Nuseirat and Khan Younis, airstrikes and bulldozers demolished entire neighborhoods, with one drone strike in Bani Suheila killing three civilians. Another strike in Asdaa reportedly wiped out an entire family.
Israeli forces also targeted humanitarian sites. In northern Rafah, Israeli gunfire hit the Shaqoush aid distribution center, killing two civilians and injuring dozens more.
The Government Media Office in Gaza announced the deaths of journalists Tamer al-Za'anin and Walaa al-Jaabari, bringing the number of media workers killed since the start of the war to 231.
Famine crisis and medical collapse
In a related context, Gaza’s health officials declared a state of emergency over worsening famine conditions. In addition to the 111 confirmed hunger-related deaths, hospitals are now reporting surges in patients suffering from acute malnutrition, particularly children and elderly individuals.
Fatigue and exhaustion are being widely reported amid the ongoing famine in Gaza, due to Israel's blocking of any life-saving supplies into the enclave. pic.twitter.com/CXnLL4Dpi3
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 23, 2025
Medical staff warn they are overwhelmed and out of supplies, with many facilities turning away the critically ill due to a lack of space, fuel, and medicine.
One haunting image circulating widely showed a mother who left to search for food returning to find her home bombed, and her children dead beneath the rubble.
There’s a kind of horror & pain that words can’t carry—like the mother who left home today to find food for her hungry children, only to return & find the home struck & all her children killed. All of them. (1/4🧵⬇️) pic.twitter.com/Qie3yqYb8j
— Ema🇵🇸 (@Ema97n) July 22, 2025
In a statement Tuesday, Hamas called on the international community to act immediately to end what it described as “the crime of starvation” in Gaza. The group demanded an urgent lifting of the blockade and a halt to the attacks on civilians and aid seekers.
“What is happening in Gaza is a defining moment for human conscience. The world must stand with Gaza and stop the war of genocide and starvation that continues under a suffocating siege and suspicious international silence," Hamas' statement read.
A Palestinian father sifts through the remains of wheat flour to feed his starved children amid the ongoing starvation war waged by Israel on the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/xlTe8clRza
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 23, 2025
As images of emaciated children and mass graves circulate globally, the call for a ceasefire and humanitarian access has never been more urgent.
