Born and died during Gaza war, infant twins are buried in Rafah

Mother of the Palestinian twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza, who were born during the conflict between Israel and Hamas and were killed in Israeli air strikes, reacts during their funeral, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 3, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

By Bassam Masoud and Nidal al-Mughrabi

RAFAH (Reuters) – Born a few weeks into the Gaza war, infant twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza were buried on Sunday, the youngest of 14 members of the same family whom Gaza health authorities say were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah overnight.

Their mother, Rania Abu Anza, held one of the twins, its tiny body wrapped in a white shroud, to her cheek and stroked its head during the funeral on Sunday. A mourner held the second baby close by, pale blue pyjamas visible beneath a shroud.

SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB Mother of the Palestinian twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza, who were born during the conflict between Israel and Hamas and were killed in Israeli air strikes, reacts during their funeral, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 3, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

“My heart is gone,” wept Abu Anza, whose husband was also killed, as mourners comforted her. She resisted when asked to release the body of one of the babies ahead of burial. “Leave her with me,” she said, in a low voice.

The twins – a boy and a girl – were among five children killed in the strike on a house in Rafah, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Abu Anza said she had given birth to them – her first children – after 11 years of marriage.

Mourners pray during the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip March 3, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

“We were asleep, we were not shooting and we were not fighting. What is their fault? What is their fault, what is her fault?” Abu Anza said.

“How will I continue to live now?”

Relatives said the twins had been born some four months ago, about a month into the war which began on Oct. 7, when Hamas stormed Israel, in an attack that killed 1,200 people and resulted in another 253 being abducted, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 30,000 people in the Gaza Strip since then, according to Gaza health authorities, laying waste to the territory and uprooting most of its population.

A mourner reacts during the funeral of the Palestinian twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza, who were born during the conflict between Israel and Hamas and were killed in Israeli air strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 3, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

The members of the Abu Anza family killed in the strike were lined up in black body bags. A man wept over the body of one of the dead, a child wearing pyjamas. “God have mercy on her, God have mercy on her,” said another man, consoling him.

Mother of the Palestinian twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza, who were born during the conflict between Israel and Hamas and were killed in Israeli air strikes, reacts during their funeral, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 3, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Abu Anza said she had been wishing for a ceasefire before Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month which begins around March 10.

U.S. President Joe Biden has expressed hope one will be agreed by then. “We were preparing for Ramadan, how am I supposed to live my life? How?” she said.

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Alison Williams)