GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In three separate incidents on Jan. 27, Feb. 4 and Feb. 20, residents in Gaza found three nurslings with unknown parentage left in the streets in the center of Gaza City and in the north of the Gaza Strip. At the end of 2016, another child was found among the olive trees in a deserted region in central Gaza. These cases have opened Pandora’s box.

Al-Monitor's interviews took place before the third baby was found Feb. 20.

The director of Mabarra Association that is specialized in caring for children with unknown parentage, Moumen Barakat, told Al-Monitor, “We have been handed two children with unknown parentage from the Palestinian police since the beginning of 2017. One was found in front of Al-Amal Institute for Orphans in Gaza City and the other in front of a mosque in the north of the Gaza Strip.”

He added, “With the two nurslings who were recently found [on Jan. 27 and Feb. 4], Mabarra Association is now home to 15 children with unknown parentage. The association offers the children all services — from medical and psychological care to education — so that they can look after themselves after completing university education. Caretakers who play the role of mothers attend to the children’s needs.”