Feature: Gaza miracle baby died amid severe Gaza crisis

GAZA (Xinhua) - When the baby girl Shaima was delivered from her dead mother's womb after an Israeli air strike on July 26, she was hailed as a miracle, a rare ray of light in one of the most darkest days of Gaza.

While the world was enthralled by the birth, some conscientious souls were raising the question: how can we explain to Shaima later about her birth?

The world is now spared the trouble of offering any explanation, for the Gaza miracle baby passed away Wednesday after the incubator that kept her safe shut off due to power outrage inflicted by Israeli bombardment.

Shaima was supposed to spend five weeks on a respirator to recover from a deprivation of oxygen caused by her mother's premature death ten minutes before the surgery to save the baby finished.

Hospital nurses said the baby was stable and fared quite well. Unfortunately, nothing could fare well when a war was raging on.

On Tuesday, the day before Shaima died, Israel broadened its assault on Gaza after a flickering hope of a ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr emerged only briefly.  

Gazans called that day "the darkest day ever" since July 8 when the Israeli military operation started, not only because of the worst casualties of more than 125 deaths in a single day, but because on that day, Israel wrecked the region's only power plant.

Mohamed al-Sharif, director of the power plant said the fuel tanks in the station were completely destroyed at 7:00 am local time on Tuesday, and the fire devoured the main turbine that generated electricity, thus exposing 90 percent of the 1.8 million populations to indefinite period of blackout.

As a result, despite hospital staffs' frantic effort to save her, the five-day-old new born baby died from complications after her oxygen tubes failed to work properly due to continuous power cut.

For Palestinians squeezed in the besieged coastal enclave, the birth of Shaima represented hope for life amid unbearable and relentless suffering. Unfortunately, the light turned out to be a false dawn again.

When Shaima was still breathing, she was too tiny and fragile even to open her eyes, never having the chance to see the world she was born into. However, many people in Gaza now may consider that a blessing in disguise.

When a Xinhua reporter talked to Palestinians in and out of Gaza Strip, no one actually seemed surprised at the occurrence of the ongoing Israeli assault. "That is the price Palestinians in Gaza pay for occupation and blockade every couple of years," they would say.

However, Operation Protective Edge, entering its fourth week, still shocked people by its staggering death toll and relentless destruction.

During the 26-day Israeli bombardment across Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated tracts of land in the world, more than 1,680 Palestinians were killed, with nearly 9,000 injured. Two thirds of the casualties were civilians, among whom at least 296 were children.

A massive exodus of displaced population also created a bizarre scene of totally evacuated towns in northern Gaza on one hand, and cramped makeshift shelters in central Gaza on the other.

According to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner- General Pierre Krahenbuhl, nearly half a million Palestinians have been displaced since the start of the conflict, among whom, 240, 000 are currently residing in UNRWA facilities. The UN institution said it had to turn down further influx of refugees due to resource shortage.

During the past month, only a couple of short-lived humanitarian breaks enabled Palestinian refugees to retreat from shelters to check their houses. For the rarely lucky ones, the house remained intact. But for others, the scene usually amounted to giant earthquake aftermath.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, some 5,000 houses were completely destroyed during Israeli air strikes, with 26,270 more being partially destroyed.

For Palestinians still living in their houses, every single day passed though as though they were walking a tightrope. A few days ago, the building where Xinhua office stood in Gaza City was bombed out of no apparent reasons, since the floors most heavily damaged were for civilian dwellings.

Many Palestinians, especially the youth, started to record their life on the front line on social networking sites, and most of them began their first status updating everyday by typing "I made it through the night."