<figcaption>Watch: BBC joins malnourished baby's journey to Jordan for treatment</figcaption>
The cry was frail, but I could hear Siwar Ashour even before she was carried out of the coach. It was the cry of a voice that won’t give up, of a child born in this war and who has now, for a while at least, managed to escape it.
In person, six-month-old Siwar is tinier than any visual image can convey. She weighs 3 kg (6.6 lb) but should be twice that. Her mother, Najwa, 23, smiled as she described feeling on crossing into Jordan on Wednesday, when her daughter was evacuated from Gaza with other Palestinian children. The first thing she noticed was the quiet. “It feels like there is a truce. We will spend our night without rockets and bombing with God’s will,” she told me. Siwar was also accompanied by her grandmother Reem and her father Saleh, who is blind. “The first and last goal of this trip is Siwar,” said Saleh. “We want to get her to a safe shore. I want to make sure she is safe and cured. She’s my daughter, my own flesh and blood. And I’m so deeply worried about her.”
In person, six-month-old Siwar is tinier than any visual image can convey. She weighs 3 kg (6.6 lb) but should be twice that. Her mother, Najwa, 23, smiled as she described feeling on crossing into Jordan on Wednesday, when her daughter was evacuated from Gaza with other Palestinian children. The first thing she noticed was the quiet. “It feels like there is a truce. We will spend our night without rockets and bombing with God’s will,” she told me. Siwar was also accompanied by her grandmother Reem and her father Saleh, who is blind. “The first and last goal of this trip is Siwar,” said Saleh. “We want to get her to a safe shore. I want to make sure she is safe and cured. She’s my daughter, my own flesh and blood. And I’m so deeply worried about her.”
4-year-old male sibling has been constantly crying. He is tired and scared.
The family will stay in Jordan to continue Siwar’s treatment. They will receive medical care, food, and shelter in a safe environment.
The family will stay in Jordan to continue Siwar’s treatment. They will receive medical care, food, and shelter in a safe environment.
With additional reporting by Alice Doyard, Suha Kawar, Mark Goddard and Malaak Hassouneh.
