It takes a whole village to raise Reem, the baby whose entire family was killed in an attack

TEL AVIV — Baby Reem is hungry. She is five months old and is gasping for her mother's milk. She does not understand that her mother is dead and that she is the only survivor of an airstrike that killed her entire family.

Reem Jehad Abou Haya was rescued from the rubble of her family home in Khan Younis, a city in the Gaza Strip, on August 12. That she survived an attack that killed her parents, siblings and cousins ​​is a miracle, but also a bittersweet one, as her life will now be overshadowed by the loss of her parents.

Her grandmother, Sayaeda Mohamed Husein Abou Haya, said 13 members of her family were killed in the attack.

“They were having dinner when a rocket fell on them and no one was left alive,” said Abou Haya, as Reem, bandaged, bruised and burned, lay crying on her lap. “No one except the baby.”

An aunt took Reem away from her grandmother and tried to bottle feed her. She refused food and cried constantly.

“The whole house fell on them and they found their body parts,” said Soaad Hosni Abou Haya, another of Reem's aunts. “As you saw, their facial features are not visible, no head, no leg, they have no facial features, just body parts, just pieces – pieces of flesh.”

Now it takes a whole village to raise Reem, and her story is not an isolated one. According to UNICEF, around 17,000 children have been unaccompanied or separated from their parents since the war began in Gaza.

A report released on Friday by the non-governmental organization International Rescue Committee warned that the actual number could be higher, adding: “The risk of family separation has increased dramatically in recent months, exacerbated by numerous evictions, arrests, Israeli evacuation orders and deaths.”

According to the IRC, children have been found living alone in hospitals. Caregivers and professionals have reported that “children in Gaza seek comfort in shock, cling to others when there are loud noises, wet the bed, have nightmares and try to sleep under the bed to feel safe.”

And the effects are likely to continue even after the war ends. “Prolonged toxic stress from violence and displacement can lead to long-term health problems in children,” the report says. Without support, “there is a significant risk of long-term developmental impairments, including brain development.”

As of Thursday, more than 40,000 people, including thousands of children, had been killed in Israel's months-long military offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 115 newborns had been killed since the war began.

Within 24 hours, Reem lost her family; her newborn twins and her mother were killed in a strike as her father went to collect their birth certificates.

The attacks followed a deadly weekend of strikes after a school converted into a shelter in Gaza City was attacked by Israeli Defense Forces, killing at least 100 people.

Doctors at Nasser Hospital who examined Reem said her injuries were superficial and that they could not hospitalize her further because of the risk of cross-infection. However, they said she would become dehydrated if she did not drink soon.

“She is looking for her mother,” said Dr. Ahmad Alfra. “She is refusing any food.”

Alfra witnessed death and suffering for months, but describes Reem's situation as “one of the most catastrophic stories we have ever experienced in this war.”

He asked one of Reem's aunts to try to find another nursing mother; perhaps Reem would accept her milk.

NBC News reached out to the Israeli military for comment. The network did not comment on the specific incident, but said the military “aims to destroy Hamas' military and administrative capabilities.”

“Her fate, of course I will take her; I am her aunt,” Soaad Hosni Abou Haya told NBC. “She is not the first child in Gaza to live without a father or mother. She will live as an orphan. There are many cases like this. She is not the first and will not be the last.”

As for her future, Soaad said the fate of the children in Gaza will be Reem's fate too. But first she needs to eat.