Vigil for Gaza launches Mother's Day campaign for Rafah neonatal unit

Mother's Day campaign launched for moms, children in Gaza

Anti-war protesters gathered in Palo Alto this Mother’s Day to bring more attention to the mothers and their babies suffering in Gaza. The group also says it’s raising money to support a neonatal unit in a Rafah hospital.

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Anti-war protesters gathered in Palo Alto this Mother’s Day to bring more attention to the mothers and their babies suffering in Gaza. The group also says it’s raising money to support a neonatal unit in a Rafah hospital.

At the corner of El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road, ‘Vigil for Gaza’ held its weekly rally to call for an immediate cease-fire. Some women at this rally held on Mother’s Day spoke about what they say mothers in Gaza experience.

"They have nowhere to go, the hospitals are bombed. They have no anesthetic if they need a C-section. There’s no recovery time after birth," said Michelle Higgins, an organizer with Vigil for Gaza.

"I feel extremely sad, extremely sad. I wish them peace and I wish them some form of relief," said Stephanie, of Campbell.

The United Nations says 70% of those killed in Gaza have been women and children and about a million women and girls have been displaced. Women also now have severely reduced access to healthcare.

"As a mom, the stress of having a newborn baby in normal times, it’s a lot for any mom. To do that during a war, and to do that with what’s happening now in Rafah. No one has housing," said Higgins.

The group says it started a Mother’s Day campaign to raise $5,000. The money will help fund a new neonatal intensive care unit for premature babies at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah.

"I’m here not only because I’m a mother. I’m here because I’m a person and I care about people. I’m from Israel, and I don’t want anyone to suffer," said Estishohat Rozenfeld, a Los Altos resident.

The mother of four says she comes to this cease-fire rally each week because she cares about humanity.

"I don’t want my people to suffer, and I don’t want my neighbors to suffer. My partners. The Palestinians are my partners, and we should find a way to live together," she continued.

The U.N. also says nearly all of Gaza’s population is facing severe hunger and further escalation of the conflict in Rafah will only cripple humanitarian efforts.