One mother’s harrowing escape from Gaza

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And her family’s reunion in Canada

UNFORGETTABLE SAGAS, SCOOPS AND SCANDALS
from Toronto Life’slong-form archives

JANUARY 25, 2025

Dear reader,

It’s been almost a week since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect. The fragile agreement, reached after more than 460 days of devastation in Gaza, has allowed for an influx of aid into the territory and the release of both Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Since October of 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, wounded more than 111,000 and displaced 90 per cent of Gaza’s population, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Even if the ceasefire holds, it will take years to rebuild Gaza’s decimated health infrastructure: fewer than half of its 36 hospitals remain operational (and those only partially so). Their ability to treat patients with complex injuries and chronic illnesses has been profoundly compromised, as has caring for pregnant women and newborns. According to the UN, in October of 2024, there were 155,000 pregnant women and new mothers in Gaza, many of whom were forced to give birth without basic necessities such as medication or clean water.

Yara Abualjedian was one of those women. Her daughter, Sila, was born in a hospital without anesthetic, electricity or sterilization—while her husband, a refugee in Canada, anxiously awaited news. To tell their moving and terrifying story, writer Andrea Yu spoke with the couple—now safe in Brantford with their young child—as well as the family members and friends who helped them reunite against incredible odds.

For more great long-reads from Toronto Life, subscribe to our print edition here.

—Stéphanie Verge, features editor

Saving Sila

Yara Abualjedian was nine months pregnant when Israel intensified its bombing of Gaza. Her husband, Ahmad, was in Canada, 9,000 kilometres away, with no way to reach her. Then she went into labour. A story about love and perseverance in a time of war

INTERVIEWS BY ANDREA YU | JANUARY 23, 2024

The morning Yara Abualjedian started having contractions, there was bombing all around the UN school in Deir al Balah where she and hundreds of other Palestinians had taken shelter. Over the next two days, she shuttled back and forth between hospitals in the area, not knowing whether she was going to live or die, before she finally gave birth on a blanket on the ground. Terrified that his wife and newborn would be killed, Yara’s husband, Ahmad, shared their story on social media and spoke with government officials in a desperate—and ultimately successful—attempt to get his young family to Ontario, where he’d been living since 2018. As he told writer Andrea Yu, he couldn’t truly believe they were safe until he held them in his arms.

READ THE FULL STORY

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