GAZA CITY, Palestine

In a devastating blow to Palestinian families, Israel's attack on Gaza's largest in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic, Al Basma center, has left hundreds of dreams of parenthood in ruins.

Since late last year, Israel's relentless assault on the enclave, coupled with the blockade have resulted in power outages and disruptions in the supply of equipment and medicines, significantly worsening the humanitarian crisis.

In an Israeli strike in December, the nitrogen tanks at the center were destroyed.

New tanks cannot be manufactured due to security and logistics issues amid Israel's relentless attacks.

Over 5,000 IVF embryos were lost as the cooling process malfunctioned.

The bombing of the Al Basma center shattered the dreams of hundreds of Gazan couples, some of whom had been yearning for children for nearly three decades.

Speaking to Anadolu, Abdulkadir Mekad, an employee, lamented the loss, stating: "We lost more than 5,000 embryos as a result of the Israeli bombardment. Among them were those who had been dreaming of having a baby for 20-30 years."

“Some had started the embryo transfer process, and some had even determined the gender of their babies. The dreams of these people were shattered due to Israeli attacks. Long and painful operations, their efforts, their money went to waste, their lives were ruined," he added.

Mohammed al-Sharefi, an IVF specialist at the center, stressed families seeking IVF treatment bear a significant financial cost.

"Being a center where we also perform high-cost embryo transfer operations, in addition to embryo and sperm freezing laboratories, our work is quite delicate and important. In vitro fertilization operations are very costly. Families who cannot have babies naturally have to pay large amounts to realize their dreams.”

Muna el-Arabi, who had previously had two daughters through IVF, spoke of her shattered dreams of having a son, as Israeli attacks prevented her from undergoing further treatment.

"My husband and I dreamt of having a son after two daughters," she said.

Incessant bombings

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed about 1,200 people.

More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan​​​​​​​