Ala'a Ibrahim

3 weeks ago | nbcnews.com | Mike Hixenbaugh |Roberto Daza |Antonia Hylton |Ala'a Ibrahim

TULSA, Okla. — The women have spent decades trying to forget, but some memories haunt them. The way the children’s pastor wrapped them in his arms. The terrifying stories he told about demons and the warmth in his voice as he promised to protect them. The chill of his hands on parts of their bodies where no grown man’s hands should be. The blood some of them found in their underwear afterward. They can still picture the spaces where it happened: A church nursery. A childhood bedroom.

Oct 16, 2024 | nbcnews.com | Ala'a Ibrahim

Oct. 16, 2024, 9:00 AM UTCBy Islam Al-Qanou addressed her newborn son as she made her way back to the camp for displaced people in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. “Oh, Abdel Hadi, you came in a time of destruction and war,” she said. “There is no bed for the boy. We are staying in the open air and on the sand.”It proved an accurate description of the baby's new home.