Israel’s indiscriminate military attacks on Gaza between October 2023 and January 2025 included the targeting and destruction of Gaza’s six embryo transplantation centres and nine IVF centres.
These centres stored frozen embryos, semen samples, and unfertilised eggs for thousands of Gazans undergoing IVF and other fertility treatments.
In light of these events, it can be argued that the Israeli Army’s destruction of Gaza’s fertility laboratories and clinics constitutes genocide.
The United Nations’ Genocide Convention further supports this view, as it defines genocide to include “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
Speaking to The New Arab from Gaza, residents share their accounts of the attacks on the region’s reproductive healthcare facilities during this period.
Dreams shattered
38-year-old Fatima Ahmed, who has been married for ten years, was scheduled to have her embryos transplanted on 9 October 2023 at Al-Basma Medical Center, Gaza’s main fertility centre, but that appointment never took place.
After the genocide in Gaza broke out on 7 October 2023, Fatima’s family pressured her to evacuate to the south, and although she initially refused to leave in order to keep her appointment at Al-Basma for an embryo transplantation procedure, she eventually gave in and relocated with her husband.
In December of that year, Fatima’s dreams of becoming a mother before the age of 40 were completely shattered when she heard that the centre had been bombed by the Israeli Army.
The explosion destroyed all 4,000 embryos, 1,000 semen samples, and unfertilised eggs by blowing off the tops of the nitrogen tanks that were storing them. When the liquid nitrogen was exposed to air, it evaporated instantly, ruining everything stored inside the tanks.
“I had great hope this time because I had several previous failed rounds of IVF,” Fatima tells The New Arab. “I had wanted to become a mother before my forties, when the chances of getting pregnant are generally low. My doctor stopped answering my calls. Maybe he is embarrassed to take my call. I don’t know what to do.”
Currently in Egypt, Fatima is trying to undergo another round of IVF and says she still has hope of becoming a mother one day.
Eggs reduced to rubble
Preserving frozen embryos during the genocide was no easy feat.
In Gaza, it became a mammoth task, especially with the cutting off of electricity and the bombing of health centres and hospitals.
Some Gazan couples completely lost hope after the destruction of fertility laboratories, while in some cases, doctors were able to salvage frozen embryos, unfertilised eggs, and semen samples, transferring them to safe places and giving families another chance to have children once the genocide ended.
Just like Fatima, 36-year-old Yasmine El Masri was affected by the destruction of Gaza’s fertility centre, where she had three embryos frozen. During the genocide, she saw a news broadcast reporting that the area had been completely wiped out by the Israeli Army.
“Not only were the embryo stores destroyed, but my dream of becoming a mother was also destroyed,” she shares. “My financial situation is poor, and undergoing another round of IVF will be expensive. I hope to travel abroad and have the operation performed on me.”
Similarly, Shahd Al-Harazin, who had frozen some of her eggs at a fertility centre, is also devastated by her loss.
Shahd, who had reached the age of 40 and was still single, passed by the fertility centre where her eggs had been stored while travelling from the north to the south of Gaza in January 2024, only to find it reduced to rubble.
“I cried bitterly, as if the dream of motherhood had become a miracle for me,” Shahd says.
Not just women affected
It is not just Gazan women who have been affected by the Israeli Army’s destruction of fertility centres and laboratories.
After separating from his wife three years ago due to fertility issues, Ahmed Al Khatib decided to freeze some semen samples before going away for medical treatment. This was before the genocide in Gaza started.
“I was sorry to hear about the targeting of fertility centres,” he says. “I had hopes of becoming a father one day. I feel broken and want to leave this unjust world.”
Dr Akram Jum’aa, an embryo transplantation specialist from Gaza, is also deeply concerned by the destruction.
At present, he owns a fertility centre in Rafah, South Gaza, specialising in infertility treatment, and while he is currently in Egypt, he hopes to return soon, as his centre remains standing with its equipment intact.
That said, Dr. Jum’aa notes that the Israeli Army still controls the area and has yet to withdraw.
“I do not know the extent of the losses in the centre, but the building is still standing,” he tells The New Arab. “There are losses of more than 500 frozen embryos and more than 800 frozen samples, including eggs or sperm. The centres need to be supplied with electricity and liquid nitrogen so that we can preserve the samples under very cold temperatures.”
He adds, “The Rafah crossing must be opened to bring in equipment and rebuild roads, water supplies, electricity infrastructure, and sewage works so that we can rebuild our centres again.”
In saying this, Dr Jum’aa notes that if Palestinian refugees in Egypt are not allowed to return to Gaza, he will travel to Turkey with his friends and continue his journey there, as Turkey was his previous starting point in the field of embryo transplantation.
“I am very concerned for the mothers of Gaza,” he says. “The embryos in those tanks were the last hope for hundreds of Palestinian couples who are facing fertility problems. Perhaps the dream has been completely lost for some of them, and perhaps there is an opportunity to revive hope for some again.”
Haya Ahmed is a doctor and freelance writer from Gaza
