New-born twins called Yasser and Arafat

When expectant Palestinian mother Safra Hassan went into labour this morning, she told her husband, Rafiq, she wanted to call the child Yasser, after Yasser Arafat.

It was only in the delivery room at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital that Hassan, 32, discovered she was carrying twin boys.

“I looked at my husband and I said, we will call them Yasser and Arafat,” she said.

“I’m so proud that the name of Yasser Arafat will be in my house every day, just as the name of Yasser Arafat will be in every Palestinian house forever.”

The two boys, each weighing just over 4.4 pounds, are doing well, doctors said. The Hassans already have two children, a seven-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son.

Safra said that naming the new-borns after the dead Palestinian leader was a small gesture compared to the sacrifices he made in pursuit of Palestinian statehood.

“I hope that my children will grow up in peace and will witness Yasser Arafat’s dreams become reality,” she said.