ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
U.N. aid groups say they're in a race against time to vaccinate children in Gaza against polio. The fast-spreading virus also threatens Israel, which has already been vaccinating its soldiers. As diseases spread in Gaza, people say the biggest threat remains Israeli airstrikes. NPR's Aya Batrawy in Dubai and producer Anas Baba in Gaza have this report. And a warning - it contains descriptions of the war some may find disturbing.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Hannan al-Duggi cannot be comforted. Just 3 years old, there are burns and scabs on her face and arms. Her legs are tiny stumps. They were amputated after relatives say two Israeli airstrikes targeted the family's home last week.
(SOUNDBITE OF BABY FUSSING)
BATRAWY: Hannan's little sister, Misk al-Duggi, is just 21 months old. The sisters share a hospital bed. Misk was also severely wounded in the attack. Part of her left foot is amputated. She calls out for her mom, who was killed in the strike. The father is in intensive care. Relatives now watch over them. They say the mother, who was 25 years old, took pride in making sure her daughters had dresses and new shoes.
SHIFA AL-DUGGI: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: "The girls have a very hard road ahead," says their aunt, Shifa al-Duggi (ph), who's sitting by their bedside in the hospital in Gaza.
She places a stuffed doll next to Hannan, wrapping the doll's leg around her.
AL-DUGGI: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: She says, on Monday, September 2, the girls' parents had just taken them to get vaccinated against polio and its incurable paralysis in children. They're among hundreds of thousands of kids just vaccinated in Gaza against the virus, which spread after Israel's bombardment of water and sewage systems. But the very next afternoon, on Tuesday, September 3, Israeli airstrikes hit the al-Duggi home in Central Gaza. Hannan had been sleeping in her mother's lap. The girl was flung outside the building.
AL-DUGGI: (Non-English language spoken).
HANNAN AL-DUGGI: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-DUGGI: (Non-English language spoken)?
BATRAWY: When asked about the attack by NPR, the Israeli military said it's operating to dismantle Hamas' military capabilities and, quote, "takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm." Still, the attack underscores the dangers Israeli airstrikes pose daily to children in Gaza, even amid the vaccination campaign. Israel has only announced pauses in airstrikes in certain areas of Gaza for limited hours during the campaign.
(CROSSTALK)
BATRAWY: In South Gaza today, just after the U.N. had finished its vaccination campaign there, children gather around large craters in the sand - the marks of Israeli airstrikes overnight that struck tents for displaced people.
(CROSSTALK)
BATRAWY: At least 19 bodies were taken to morgues, including two children. The Israeli military says it targeted three senior Hamas militants in the airstrikes who had been involved in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel.
HANNAN: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: At the hospital in Central Gaza, where the two little sisters lay bedridden, dazed and amputated, their aunt, Shifa al-Duggi, says she doesn't know what the future holds for them, what could happen to her own kids, who she will mourn next in this war. As she speaks, Hannan calls out for her mom.
AL-DUGGI: (Non-English language spoken).
HANNAN: Mama.
AL-DUGGI: Mama?
BATRAWY: The family tells NPR the home was in an area of Central Gaza the Israeli military said people could return to just five days before it was hit.
Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai, with reporting by Anas Baba in Gaza.
(SOUNDBITE OF TENDAI SONG, "TIME IN OUR LIVES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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