Yumna

Please read this story

The martyr, the child Yumna.

I am Yumna’s mother, and my name is Maram Shaqeela. I carefully chose my daughter’s name because I loved it a lot.

I carried her with fear and concern. In the ninth month, they told me there was a lack of amniotic fluid, and there was a possibility she might not survive. I rushed to the hospital, screaming that I wanted to save her, and I gave birth by cesarean section to ensure she survived.

After two weeks, her father named her. He woke me up from sleep, and she was sucking her fingers, hungry. I forgot my pain, embraced her, and started breastfeeding her. I love her so much.

I took the two-month vaccine, and I slept next to her because she was crying a lot. I started crying next to her; I felt her pain. Yumna grew up and turned 5 months. I was happy because I could give her biscuits, milk, zucchini, carrots, and potatoes.

When they talked about war, I escaped with her. It didn’t matter if I died; the important thing was for her to live. The day she left me was a nightmare. I was dressing her in white, spraying her with perfume, breastfeeding her, and giving her biscuits with milk. I didn’t know I was preparing her for death.

This is Yumna, the light of my eyes and the joy of my heart. I slept beside her when she was martyred. (Here I am, mama; I haven’t left you to sleep alone).

Maram Shaqeela became a mother for the first time five months ago when she gave birth to her daughter Yumna. However, the little Yumna was martyred in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023, leaving her mother grief-stricken. She was eagerly looking forward to seeing her daughter grow up before her eyes.