Day Daughter Was Born Was the Day Her Journalist Father Died in Gaza

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – May 7, 2025, was the day Amal Sobeih gave birth to her daughter, and the day her husband was killed.

Yahya Sobeih witnessed the birth of his baby girl, Sana. At 6 a.m., he brought Amal to the hospital as she went into labor, with Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza still raging and military attacks across the territory relentless. The couple, however, brimmed with excitement as they prepared to welcome their third child—the first sister for their sons Baraa, 4, and Kenan, 3. Amal recalled that doctors told her she needed an emergency C-section after arriving at the hospital, but aside from that, the delivery went smoothly. “It was a perfect day at first… the birth was quick, the baby was healthy, and everyone was happy,” she said. “Yahya was overjoyed. He held his daughter and told everyone: ‘Here is my beautiful princess.’” He stayed at the hospital for several hours with his wife and newborn, checking on their health, reciting Islamic prayers into the baby’s ear, taking photos, and greeting relatives who came to congratulate them. Before leaving, he told Amal he would step out for a while and return shortly. “He told me to rest and take care of myself. He said he would go home to check on our sons and bring some things for the baby, then come back so we could choose a name together,” she recalled. “Unfortunately, I didn’t know that would be the last time we would see Yahya.”

Surviving just five hours after his daughter’s birth, the journalist proudly shared a photo of himself holding the baby on social media. Later that day, Yahya was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a commercial area in central Gaza City. The attack killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens more. Relatives at Amal’s hospital bedside did not know how to break the news to her just after she had given birth. Their only concern was how to tell her while she was still physically and emotionally weak post-delivery. But she sensed something was wrong. “There were constant phone calls, tense faces, conversations that abruptly stopped when I approached. Even the medical staff kept checking on me, and my mother was whispering endlessly,” Amal said. “I kept asking my mother: ‘What’s wrong? What’s happening?’ But no one gave a clear answer. Everyone was talking strangely.” She only learned what happened after going online. “The headline appeared right before my eyes: ‘Journalist Yahya Sobeih killed five hours after welcoming his newborn daughter,’” Amal said in tears. “I felt the blood freeze in my veins. I screamed uncontrollably because I couldn’t believe it. I felt like I was going mad.”

Yahya was attacked while distributing candy to relatives and friends to celebrate his daughter’s birth. Among those killed alongside him were his cousin, best friend, and brother-in-law—people who had been at the hospital just hours earlier to congratulate him, hold the baby, and take pictures. Beyond the shock of losing him, Amal said she could not say goodbye. Still recovering from surgery, she was forced to stay in bed for hours. “I just wanted to see him one last time… touch him, say goodbye… but I couldn’t.” She had already lost her brother, his wife, and their three children, as well as her sister and her four children, all killed in Israeli attacks. But Amal called the past 12 months since Yahya’s death “the year of pain,” saying she had fought not just one war but two: the ongoing military conflict and the struggle to raise her children alone. His sudden absence forced her to face a reality she had never imagined, although he often prepared her psychologically for the possibility he could be killed at any moment due to his work reporting from the frontlines. “Every time I heard a journalist had been killed, I was horrified,” she wept. “But I never thought I would lose him.” A few months after his death, Amal and her three children were displaced to southern Gaza after the Israeli army announced its ground operation in Gaza City last September. She described the suffering of seeking shelter and living in a tent under harsh conditions with a 4-month-old baby and two young sons still struggling to understand their father’s absence.

“Yahya was the source of support, a wonderful husband and wonderful father. We never lacked anything when he was with us, even during the war,” she said. “During the famine, he searched for food and paid any price for his children. Losing him under such circumstances is unimaginably painful.” Gradually, Amal realized she had to become both mother and father to her children. Despite the grief, she decided to follow her husband’s path and started working for the same media company he did. “I try to continue my husband’s mission, staying strong for myself and for my children,” she said, hugging them. “I try to escape the painful questions my children constantly ask: ‘Where is Dad? When is he coming back?’ Working in the same field as their father might comfort them a little, but nothing can replace his absence.” What breaks Amal’s heart most is thinking about baby Sana, just turned one, and wondering how she will one day explain to her daughter that her birth day was also the day she lost her father. “I always look at my daughter’s face and find something of her father in her… in her facial expressions, her smile, even in the way she comes to me whenever I cry,” she said, holding Sana in her arms. “She hugs me as if she is comforting me.” She added, “I was very hesitant about holding Sana’s birthday party today,” beside a birthday cake and some candy she prepared to bring joy to her children, along with a photo of her late husband. “But in the end, I decided to go ahead, even if it’s only something simple. If Yahya were here, he would throw a party for her… Sana is innocent.”