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The arrival of infrequent water tanks instead of school bells is dictating the lives of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip as a consequence of the ongoing Israeli genocide, which is nearing three full years.

Ten-year-old Maysara Zaqout wakes up at sunrise every day and prepares water containers with her five-year-old brother, Jawad, by the entrance of their tent in central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp. Seeing no sign of the water truck, Maysara headed to school. But when she heard the commotion that accompanies the arrival of the truck, she abandoned her English class and made a run for her water containers. This has been her routine for the last two years.

“My family doesn’t have any water in the tent, not for drinking, cleaning dishes, or using the bathroom,” Maysara told Al Jazeera. “I had to go quickly to fill our containers before the water runs out.”

Maysara managed to fetch 20 litres of water for her family of six.

Backbreaking work for little bodies

Maysara’s story is not unique. Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip have been forced to endure backbreaking responsibilities just to be able to provide their families with clean water for drinking, cooking, and other essential needs.

“Every time I carry water to the tent, I feel tired and in pain, especially in my shoulders and back. Sometimes I trip and fall because the water containers are so heavy. It’s really painful and embarrassing,” 12-year-old Yamen Saleh said.

Yamen spends most of his day searching for water with his six-year-old brother, Aman.

“It breaks my heart to see my children lying in the tent, exhausted from the burden of life in displacement,” their mother Fidaa Saleh told Al Jazeera. “The daily journeys for water and food drain all their energy — the energy that should be put towards learning and playing like other children around the world. It also affects their appetite and the quality of their sleep.”

Such backbreaking tasks are taking a huge toll on the health of the children in the besieged enclave. Dr. Sumaya Salah said that the exhausting daily tasks children perform in Gaza cause muscle problems from strain and spasms, as well as serious conditions such as hernias and scoliosis.

She told the story of nine-year-old Raghad, who has been diagnosed with scoliosis, which causes her spine to curve. If she does not receive proper treatment, she could suffer serious, permanent complications.

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Thirst as a weapon

The Israelis have deliberately destroyed Gaza’s water infrastructure as part of their genocidal assault to make Gaza inhospitable for genocide survivors.

According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza do not have access to safe drinking water. In late May this year, it said that “most families remain water insecure (82 per cent), and up to 70 per cent are unable to collect the minimum of 6 litres per person per day for drinking and cooking.”

In July, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said that the water crisis in Gaza is part of Israel’s “policy of systematic and calculated deprivation” as the genocidal Jewish state attempts to make the enclave unliveable.

A June report by Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights also reached the same conclusion:

[T]his situation is the result of a systematic policy pursued by the occupying forces within the context of the ongoing genocide, aimed at creating conditions that are unlivable for the civilian population.

Emotional toll

The mass slaughter perpetrated by the Israelis has deprived many families of their breadwinners. After the martyrdom or abduction of their fathers, children have been burdened with responsibilities beyond their years. It is taking a huge emotional toll on them.

“I was shocked when my daughter entered the tent, sobbing and holding an empty bowl,” Huda, Maysara’s mother, told Al Jazeera. “She wasn’t just upset that her efforts had been in vain; she was also overwhelmed that she couldn’t bring food for her family.”

“I was so sad and angry,” Maysara recalled. “I went early and waited in line at the community kitchen for an hour in the sun. The food ran out before my turn. It’s not fair.”

Fidaa, the mother of Yamen and Aman, has also noticed the psychological toll on her young children.

“It has become ingrained in their personalities,” she said. “Most of the time, they think and talk about their daily responsibilities like adults. They’ve changed so much. They’ve become more stubborn, less talkative and expressive of their emotions.”

“I can’t hold back my tears every time my children talk to me about our memories before the war,” Fidaa added. “They remember their school, our home-cooked meals, our weekly family outings, and their faces light up with smiles. These memories have become their way of finding some happiness in our harsh reality.”

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Living on hope

Displaced multiple times, with ever-diminishing belongings, and living in extremely precarious conditions, parents in Gaza still cling to hope for a better future for their children.

“We couldn’t take most of our belongings when we evacuated our home in northern Gaza at the beginning of the war, but I insisted on bringing my children’s school certificates to remind us of the importance of education,” Fidaa said. “Today, I’m happy to be able to educate my children and encourage them to participate in educational initiatives and recreational activities whenever they can.”

“I’m also very proud of my son Yamen, who, despite all the challenges in our lives, has become the leader of the dabke dance team in our camp,” Fidaa added.

Maysara simply dreams of a normal childhood.

“I wish I had my own room and lots of toys,” Maysara said. “I wish I could go to a real school, wearing a beautiful uniform and with my hair combed. I wish water flowed to us through pipes and that we always had a running tap so we never had to carry water.”

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Just as the Palestinian resistance made overtures towards disarmament in the hope of a lasting peace, the Israelis again accelerated their murderous rampage in the Gaza Strip, with the Ministry of Health reporting 17 new martyrs over the last two days (Tuesday and Wednesday).

On Tuesday, the Israelis attacked a beachside café, killing at least seven people, including one child.

“The intensity of the blast threw several of the dead and injured into the sea, and recovery efforts were still under way as rescue teams searched the water,” according to a Quds News Network report.

“The strike hit a crowded civilian area along the Gaza City seafront, where displaced and exhausted Palestinians gather at what remains of the port’s cafés, one of the few places left to seek any respite from nearly three years of genocide. The targeting of such a place, packed with civilians, underscores the indiscriminate nature of an assault that has never distinguished between fighter and family.”

Jehad Muhammad Al-Masri, 13, was one of the victims of the attack on the café. Photos showed his face burnt and a huge chunk of the right side of his face and neck completely torn off due to the impact of the Israeli strike.

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On Wednesday, as part of their ongoing assault on Gaza’s social cohesion, the Israelis struck a Gaza City police post and Nuseirat refugee camp.

“Medical sources at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said they received nine Palestinian bodies following an attack on the municipal police headquarters in the centre of Gaza City,” Al Jazeera reported. “Another 15 people were wounded.”

Victims of the Gaza City strike included a newly appointed Gaza City police chief, the director of a women’s police force, and several officers.

The fresh waves of intensified Israeli strikes come at the same time as Palestinian resistance factions have been engaged with Trump henchman and son-in-law Jared Kushner to move to the next phase of the non-existent ceasefire that went into effect in October 2025.

On July 6, 2026, Hamas announced the dissolution of its governing body in the Gaza Strip to transfer civilian and administrative duties to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). This transitional technocratic body is intended to manage day-to-day civil affairs, public services, and reconstruction.

However, the move amounted to little more than Hamas’s intention to ensure lasting peace in the Gaza Strip. Ten months into the so-called ceasefire, the Israelis have not allowed any NCAG official to so much as enter the besieged enclave.

As part of its continued efforts towards peace, Hamas officially agreed to a phased disarmament framework on July 30, 2026. Even that has not stopped the Israelis from accelerating their genocidal assault on the Palestinians.

What is more, Netanyahu outright rejected Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza.

After his meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, which followed discussions with Palestinian leaders in Cairo about the Gaza roadmap, Kushner gave the license to the Israelis to continue their killing spree without restrictions.

“We’re also not going to restrict Israel’s right to defend itself if there are any imminent threats,” said Kushner, a rabid Jewish supremacist who shares close ties with Netanyahu.

The Israelis have been extensively documented killing children and subsequently branding them as imminent threats. It is quite clear that the only way the Israelis will feel safe is if every Palestinian is either dead or has been forced out of their ancestral land. The Israelis will then move against Arabs in Palestinian neighbourhoods — they are already doing so in southern Lebanon.

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More than 867,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are “living in rudimentary and dilapidated tents that are no longer fit for shelter,” according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

As nearly the entirety of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble, and barely any physical structures are left standing after nearly three years of continuous genocidal Israeli assault, genocide survivors have been forced to dwell in plastic tents.

According to a United Nations estimate, Gaza has more than 60 million tonnes of rubble, which means “on average every person in Gaza today is surrounded by 30 tonnes of rubble.” Since the Israelis have prohibited the entry of trucks and excavation equipment, Palestinians have been forced to live in and around the wreckage of their homes. Reconstruction of the enclave remains a distant prospect.

This was entirely by Israeli design.

“Gaza will eventually turn into a city of tents,” an unnamed Israeli defence official said at the very start of the genocide. “There will be no buildings.”

Such genocidal rhetoric has been a consistent feature of the Israeli political leadership since the start of the assault on Palestinians. “Gaza will be entirely destroyed,” Smotrich boasted last year.

This deliberate Western-backed Israeli policy has translated into extreme hardship for Palestinians. After years of continuous use and repeated displacement, the tents have been repeatedly dismantled and re-pitched, becoming badly frayed and no longer providing adequate shelter from the searing summer sun or winter cold. Furthermore, the Israelis have severely restricted the entry of tents and prefabricated housing units, forcing Palestinians to live under extremely precarious conditions.

As genocide survivors brace for a fourth consecutive winter in the midst of the Western-funded Israeli genocidal assault, the authorities in Gaza have appealed to the global community to press for the entry of tents into the besieged enclave:

The Office warned of the worsening suffering with the approach of the winter season, urging the international community to press for the entry of weather-resistant caravans and tents, insulation materials, and shelter supplies, and to work on clearing the rubble and rehabilitating infrastructure.

It emphasised that providing safe shelter has become an urgent necessity to protect children, the elderly, the sick, and the most vulnerable groups from the risks of cold and disease.

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Last winter was particularly devastating in Gaza, as rain submerged tents in large parts of the enclave, making it impossible for residents to keep themselves warm in freezing temperatures. Multiple infants and young children died from severe hypothermia amid freezing conditions, as they were deprived of warmth in their ramshackle tents and hospitals did not have the capacity to provide them with shelter.

The punishing winter last year swept away more than 127,000 tents, according to assessments by the Gaza Civil Defence.

A report published in June gave a sobering assessment of the catastrophic situation in Gaza. “Across Gaza, around 170,000 households, equivalent to nearly one million people, live in tents,” the Norwegian Refugee Council reported.

“Another 5,000 households sleep outdoors, while 52,000 households live in overcrowded shelters. This month, 850,000 people still lack emergency shelter items such as plastic sheeting, plywood, and rope.”

It highlighted that the catastrophe is entirely engineered by the Israelis, who enjoy unconditional support from Western leadership for all the barbarism they inflict on the helpless Palestinians: “These figures point to a shelter crisis driven not by weather, but by destruction, displacement, and blocked relief.”

“Gaza’s families are not facing a natural disaster. They are being forced to endure deadly heat in emergency shelters that were never designed to withstand prolonged displacement or high temperatures. Simple measures such as shading, ventilation and basic shelter improvements can significantly reduce risks and improve living conditions, but this is currently not available inside of Gaza and deliberately not being allowed to enter,” said Jehan Salim, Shelter Cluster Coordinator.

The Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip has meant that only a fraction of the agreed-upon aid has entered the enclave since the start of the so-called ceasefire last October, further worsening conditions. In the current circumstances, there is no way for genocide survivors to fortify or replace their tents with new ones. They are being forced to endure another biting winter in ramshackle plastic tents.

Going by the winters of the past few years, many more Palestinian infants and children will likely lose their lives if the Israelis are not forced to allow the necessary aid into the besieged enclave.

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The Israelis have been using their control over the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza to further choke Palestinians and deprive them of the only exit from the besieged enclave. Those trying to enter Gaza from Egypt are being subjected to “degrading and humiliating treatment” and often have their belongings, including medicines and other essentials, confiscated by the Israelis, making the return journey extremely perilous.

“The crossing has ceased to function merely as a civilian passage and has instead been turned into a systematic tool of repression and collective humiliation,” Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights reported on Sunday.

The October 2025 Gaza “ceasefire” agreement stipulated that the Rafah crossing would reopen for the pedestrian passage of displaced Palestinians, facilitated through coordinated supervision by European Union monitors and Egyptian authorities. The Israelis, however, opened the crossing only in early February this year, with severe restrictions.

Moreover, they shut it down completely on a whim, leaving countless patients waiting for medical evacuation abroad. Many have died waiting. Before the opening of the crossing in February, Dalia Abu Kashef, 28, died waiting for a liver transplant. “We found a volunteer — her brother — who was ready to donate part of his liver,” her husband Muatasem El-Rass told Reuters. “We were waiting for the crossing to open so we could travel and do the surgery, hoping for a happy ending. But she deteriorated badly and died.”

Currently, thousands of patients with life-threatening illnesses, including more than 11,000 cancer patients, hope for a speedy evacuation before their conditions deteriorate further. But the Israeli restrictions on medical evacuations continue to leave many without access to the urgent, specialised treatment they need.

As the Israelis have systematically decimated Gaza’s medical infrastructure during the ongoing genocide and severely restricted the entry of medicines and medical equipment, patients in the enclave are enduring extreme hardships.

Severe restrictions

According to Al Mezan, when the crossing opened in February, the Israelis allowed “approximately 150 people, including patients and their companions … to cross each day, while an equivalent number was permitted to enter the Gaza Strip, except on official holidays.”

That number has dropped to 95 in August.

“Travel from the Gaza Strip has become an extremely complex and distressing humanitarian ordeal,” Al Mezan reported. “Palestinians, particularly patients and injured persons, face lengthy and complicated procedures that prevent them from exercising their rights to access medical treatment and freedom of movement.”

The report added that “the restrictions imposed at the crossing extend beyond controlling the number of travellers to the manner in which they are treated while crossing, in ways that violate their dignity, safety and personal property.”

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Harrowing testimonies

Those returning to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing have harrowing stories of mistreatment and humiliation at the hands of the Israelis. They also testified to how the Israelis have employed criminal gangs in Gaza to perform searches and intimidate, threaten, and steal from them.

“Before reaching the Israeli army checkpoint, we were searched by an armed group affiliated with it,” a woman identified only as H.S. told Al Mezan. “The search procedures were extremely brutal and humiliating. They confiscated medication for my diabetes, as well as two eye drops that I was carrying for my injured grandson. They also confiscated a mobile phone screen. When I pleaded with them to return it, they directed abusive and insulting language at me, despite the fact that I am an elderly woman. At that moment, I felt that we had lost all our dignity and that we no longer had any existence.”

“I returned to the Gaza Strip at the beginning of July 2026, and I believe that day was one of the most difficult days I have experienced because of the extremely strict inspection procedures,” a woman identified as E.M. told Al Mezan.

“Despite complying with the instructions and carrying only one bag weighing no more than 20 kilograms, I was treated very badly. Members of the armed group affiliated with the army threw the contents of the bag onto the ground while searching it, causing our belongings to become covered in dirt. Unfortunately, they also confiscated pieces of gold that I was wearing. When I objected, they threatened to arrest me and intensified the search. To this day, I do not know where I can turn to recover the gold that was confiscated from me.”

“I travelled for treatment in March 2024 and returned to the Gaza Strip after completing my treatment in early July 2026, accompanied by three of my children,” another woman testified.

“The journey was extremely difficult. I had four bags, one for each of us, as each child was permitted to have one bag. However, during the inspection, more than half of our belongings were confiscated, including the children’s toys, some medicines and clothing, which they threw onto the ground. We spent a long time collecting some of our belongings from the ground, including some of the medication I needed for my treatment. I spoke to them repeatedly and pleaded with them to return some of the confiscated medicines and supplies, but to no avail.”

Israeli impunity

These Israeli violations have been recorded by humanitarian organisations since the reopening of the Rafah crossing.

“These violations we are seeing against Palestinians returning to Gaza are part of a broader pattern of violations and dehumanization, and are discouraging people from returning,” Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA), said last week.

“These are vulnerable people returning to their occupied land that has been devastated by years of Israeli bombardment and starved of life’s basic essentials. And now they are having to endure this on their return? It is simply abhorrent.”

The Israelis take pride in their dehumanisation of Palestinians, while global organisations have been exposed over the past three years as incompetent and impotent in carrying out the responsibilities they were purportedly tasked with.

Palestinians, enduring a genocide for nearly three years, do not even have the privilege of returning home with medicines they desperately need to survive.

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Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wants the genocidal Israeli troops to “kill 30 or 40” people in Gaza every night and go beyond “those who pose a danger … at that particular moment.”

Ben-Gvir made these comments to Rom Braslavski — a former Israeli prisoner of war held in Gaza after the Palestinian resistance’s October 7 operation — in a podcast episode that surfaced on Sunday.

“There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people,” Ben-Gvir added while calling for the targeted killings of Palestinians in Gaza.

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While Ben-Gvir gets singled out for his clownish comportment and his lack of a filter when speaking to the media and the “civilised” West, such views are not exclusively held by him. Countless Israeli military officials and political leaders have made similar depraved remarks since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

In its International Court of Justice (ICJ) application alleging genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, South Africa devoted a section titled Expressions of Genocidal Intent against the Palestinian People by Israeli State Officials and Others. The section ran to nine pages (pp. 59 to 67) and collected statements from nearly every Israeli cabinet minister.

Since the very start of the genocide, the Israelis have not only been stating their genocidal intent, but also publicly broadcasting it.

Israeli leaders are merely voicing what their constituents want.

A vast majority of Israelis have aired similar views in numerous surveys. In June last year, for example, a stunning 64 percent of Israelis, irrespective of their political affiliation, believed that “there are no innocents” in Gaza.

Remarkably, in a November 2025 poll, 84 percent of Israeli Jews gave their military an excellent or very good grade for its moral conduct! “Those surveyed were asked to give the IDF a score between 1 and 5 regarding its moral conduct in combat, with 5 being excellent. 60 percent of respondents gave the IDF a score of 5 and 24 percent gave a score of 4, which shows that 84 percent of the Jewish public gives the IDF an excellent or very good score regarding its moral conduct,” Israel Hayom reported.

Ben-Gvir is a near-perfect representative of the Jewish supremacist ideology shared by the overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews. As the national security minister of the Jewish state, he is in charge of the rape and torture dungeons that pass for prisons in the self-proclaimed Only Democracy in the Middle East.

Ben-Gvir has made a habit of raiding these dungeons — which are full of emaciated and tortured Palestinians, most of them held without charge — and filming their brutalisation for the pleasure of his constituents.

He was at the forefront of a new Israeli law that exclusively punishes Palestinians by execution.

More recently, as part of the election campaign for the October polls, Ben-Gvir posted an AI-generated video depicting a starving Palestinian detainee, as well as real videos mocking detainees who describe poor detention conditions.

That’s the kind of sadism that gets Israeli Jews to vote for Jewish supremacists like Ben-Gvir. They appreciate nothing less.

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This is not hyperbole. Consider the latest projections for the upcoming Israeli elections. Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) is expected to secure at least eight seats in the 120-seat Knesset; that’s a 33 percent increase from its current six seats.

Dehumanising Palestinians pays political dividends in genocidal Israeli society, whose strongest glue is the mass slaughter of Arabs.

As I have written previously:

History suggests that in extremist or ideologically totalising societies, succession rarely produces moderation. The very logic of extremism demands perpetual escalation. Each leader must prove his purity by outdoing his predecessor in ruthlessness, devotion, and ideological fervour — or risk being branded a traitor to the cause. What begins as a movement to “defend” or “preserve” becomes a machine that devours its own creators and spawns ever worse Frankenstein monsters.

Ben-Gvir, who proudly hangs a photo of the Jewish terrorist Baruch Goldstein in his living room, may not be the next Israeli prime minister, but rest assured that in the decrepit cesspool that is Israel there is no shortage of worse monsters willing to carry his torch.

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At an age when children’s concerns do not extend beyond learning and playing, the genocidal Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip has upended the lives of Palestinian children. Instead of spending their summer break playing and enjoying their childhood, their days are consumed by carrying water for their families, collecting food from community kitchens, doing menial work, and selling small items on the streets to help their families survive.

For 14-year-old Fahd Miqdad, the morning no longer begins with preparing to go to school or carrying his schoolbag and notebooks, but with searching for a work opportunity that can provide his family with the minimum needed to meet its daily needs amid the harsh economic and humanitarian conditions experienced by the people of the Gaza Strip.

Fahd told Ultra Palestine that he was forced to leave school and take up work to support his family of six after living conditions became more difficult and the family’s income was no longer enough to secure basic needs.

“I work at a small stall, bringing hot drinks to people so I can spend on my parents and siblings,” he said. “I have three younger siblings, and every day I try to provide them with food and get them anything they need, because the situation is very difficult.”

Despite Fahd’s best efforts, his daily earnings do not exceed 20 shekels, and there are days when he makes nothing. “I go out today and maybe come back with 20 shekels, maybe 10 shekels, depending on the work. I try to get by and help my family with what I can,” he said.

Notwithstanding his current predicament, Fahd hopes to return to school and continue his education: “I want to go back to school and study, be with my classmates, succeed, and learn.”

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Fahd reminisces about his life before the Western-funded Israeli genocide: “I used to go to school, and I had a bag, books, and notebooks. I studied normally and used to look forward to the summer vacation to develop my talents, especially swimming and playing football.”

As part of their full-spectrum genocide, the Israelis have destroyed more than 90 percent of the schools in the Gaza Strip. The schools that survived had long been converted into shelters for displaced families. Moreover, the Israelis continue to prohibit the entry of school supplies to ensure the children are deprived of their right to education.

“Today there are no schools like before, and education has become difficult,” Fahd rued. “And even if there is education, it costs money, and we don’t have the money to pay.”

Fahd stressed that being forced to work was not a choice but a direct result of the economic circumstances that pushed him to take on a responsibility beyond his age in an attempt to ease the burden on his family and secure bread for his younger siblings.

For Tamer and Wasim Totah, both 12 years old and cousins, the days of carefree summer vacation have been replaced by long working days at a small stall as a result of the complete devastation wrought in their homeland by the genocidal Israelis.

Tamer and Wasim’s childhood has become burdened with responsibilities beyond their years. Tamer belongs to a family of eight, while Wasim lives with ten members of his family, making the need to provide a source of income urgent. About two months ago, the two children began transporting humanitarian aid carts using a handcart, earning between 5 and 7 shekels for each transport in an attempt to contribute to supporting their families.

Enterprising beyond their years, the cousins saved some of the money they earned from their hard labour and set up a small stall where they sold candies to support their families. “This was supposed to be a summer vacation like every year, where we play and rest, but circumstances forced us to be at the stalls so we can live and eat,” the two children said sorrowfully.

But this decision came at the expense of their right to education, as the two children were forced to stop studying about three months ago in order to devote themselves to working.

Tamer and Wasim studied at a school located in the Zeitoun neighborhood, while their families currently reside in Yarmouk Stadium after being displaced, forcing the children to travel long distances to reach the school. As it was impossible to enrol in a nearby free school, continuing their education became extremely difficult.

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Ten-year-old Hassan has taken up physically demanding work to provide for his family. Hassan’s work involves cleaning stones and preparing them for reuse, a task that requires physical effort beyond the ability of a ten-year-old child and causes him to return to his tent exhausted every day, complaining of pain in his body and continuous fatigue as a result of the long working hours.

He earns just 20 shekels a day in his efforts to provide for a family of nine. It barely suffices to provide a small portion of the family’s needs amid the sharp rise in prices and the deterioration of living conditions in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing Israeli siege, which has allowed only a fraction of humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.

Hassan told Ultra Palestine that fatigue has become part of his daily life, but he continues working because he feels a responsibility towards his family, which depends on the small income he earns to secure food and basic needs.

He said that what he misses most is his life before the war, when he would go to school in the morning, spend his free time with his friends, and participate in activities that developed his talents.

“I wanted to go to school, spend the summer vacation playing games and doing activities, and go out with my friends, not work all day.”

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The genocidal Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip has created more than 28,000 widows since October 7, taking the total number of widows in the besieged enclave past 50,000. That number is likely an undercount, as many widows have not been registered due to the breakdown in administrative services as a result of the unending Israeli savagery on Palestinian civil institutions as part of its stated intent to make Gaza unliveable.

In the furnace to which the Israelis have reduced the Gaza Strip, the widows are finding it extremely difficult to care for themselves and their surviving children as resources remain scarce and prices of essentials are through the roof.

“There is no normal life inside the tent. Every day begins with the same questions: how will we secure our needs, and how will we get through another day surrounded by this exhaustion?” Mona al-Masri, whose husband was killed by the Israelis in September 2024, making her the sole provider for her four young children, told Al Jazeera.

“The war did not only take away our homes; it took away our sense of safety and stability and made even the simplest things require enormous effort.”

Lack of support

Aziza al-Kahlout, spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Development in Gaza, rued the lack of resources available to widows to make their situation bearable as they endure extreme hardships without their partners.

“The war has left these women facing a difficult reality, including the responsibility of supporting their families without a provider, amid widespread destruction and the collapse of the basic conditions needed for a decent life,” al-Kahlout told Al Jazeera.

“This requires effective programmes for economic empowerment, job creation and strengthening self-reliance to help lift them out of poverty and deprivation,” she added.

Al-Kahlout highlighted that widows need more than financial aid, emphasising the importance of psychological and social support, healthcare, and legal assistance on issues such as guardianship, custody, inheritance, and financial rights. She also pointed to the need for emergency and regular financial support, educational opportunities, vocational training, and assistance for small and family businesses to help widows achieve greater stability and independence.

“Protecting and empowering widows in the Gaza Strip has become a shared national and humanitarian responsibility that requires an urgent and sustainable response,” al-Kahlout added.

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Psychological strain

Despite the supposed ceasefire of last October, the Israelis have prevented necessary aid from entering the enclave in contravention of the terms of the agreement, increasing the hardships faced by genocide survivors.

Moreover, the relentless bombings, the total absence of reconstruction of the devastated enclave, and the continued displacements have led to psychological exhaustion among widows with young children.

“A widow in Gaza faces the pain of losing her husband, the responsibility of supporting her family, and caring for her children in an environment filled with fear and instability,” Aseel Abu Shaweesh, a psychologist, explained.

She added: “Many women are forced to hide their grief and emotional collapse so they can carry on in front of their children, while the accumulation of daily pressures and the lack of space to express their pain increase levels of anxiety and psychological exhaustion.”

The loss of their father has meant that the children have lost their sense of safety, and this shows in their behaviour.

“A child loses their father and their sense of safety and stability. They may show signs of constant fear, sleep disturbances, and behavioural changes as a result of the difficult experiences they have endured,” Abu Shaweesh said.

She added that the widowed mothers, as sole providers, need continuous support, which, in the furnace of Gaza, is far from available.

“These women need continuous support that helps them regain a sense of safety and the ability to manage their lives and their families under these difficult circumstances.”

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Saba al-Hashash, 13, had spent long hours memorising the Qur’an. She was nearly finished and excited at the prospect of reciting the last third of the holy book and receiving a certificate of appreciation and a gift from her teacher. But before she could do that, the Israelis shot her in the head in Khan Yunis on Saturday.

“Saba came to me carrying her Qur’an and wearing her prayer dress, and said to me: ‘Dad, I want to go to the centre. I have a review and a test for the third part,’” Saba’s father, Naeem al-Hashash, told Ultra Palestine, recollecting the fateful Saturday and explaining that she was very excited about the test and about receiving the gift her Qur’an teacher had promised her.

Naeem said that Saba was among the outstanding students in the seventh grade, and that in the last school term she achieved an average of 98 percent. Her ambition was to memorise the Qur’an along with academic excellence. But Saba, according to her father, felt an increasing fear of death in her final days, amid the continued random gunfire by the genocidal Israeli forces towards the al-Iqlimi area, where the family resides.

He said her fear increased after she saw two displaced children injured in the same camp.

“Because of the intensity of the fear, Saba would read the Qur’an continuously,” Naeem said. “She also kept a piece of paper on which the morning and evening supplications were written, and she would regularly read them every day so that God would protect her from random bullets.”

Naeem recounted the moment his daughter was injured, saying that an Israeli Merkava tank advanced to the outskirts of the area, around the time of the afternoon prayer, and began firing randomly, while quadcopters hovered in the sky and also fired bullets. He said: “Immediately, my wife, my children, and I lay down on the ground inside the tent because of the intensity of the gunfire, for fear of being injured.”

Only a few seconds passed before Naeem heard screams in the street calling out: “Abu Abdullah’s daughter has been injured.” At that point, he realised that Saba was among the injured inside the prayer room, which was only about 100 metres from his tent. He says: “My wife and I got up from the ground and rushed into the street, where I found one of the young men carrying Saba, drenched in her blood.”

Saba’s Qur’an teacher, Mirvat Dahlees, said that Saba was listening to her classmate Reem’s recitation and reviewing her own memorisation when heavy gunfire suddenly erupted. Saba and another student were injured and fell to the ground inside the Qur’an memorisation centre, which was built of tarpaulin and nylon, turning the place within seconds into a scene of shock, fear, and panic among the students.

“The situation was very difficult between the panic of the female students memorising in front of me, the girls’ blood, and the sound of the heavy gunfire,” Dahlees told Ultra Palestine. “Praise be to God that He spared the rest of the students.”

Dahlees said that the child Reem, who had been listening to Saba, was still experiencing a state of deep psychological shock since the moment her friend was injured in front of her, and she did not stop crying and praying for her.

Bystanders carried Saba and the other injured students to a medical centre, where the doctor informed Saba’s father that her condition was serious and that she urgently needed to be transferred to Nasser Hospital.

“With difficulty, we managed to reach Nasser Hospital, where Saba was immediately admitted to intensive care,” Saba’s father said. “It became clear that her head injury had caused bleeding in the brain, and the doctors told us that her condition was extremely critical.”

For two days, Saba remained in intensive care, unconscious, while her father outside was haunted by fears of losing his daughter, after he had lost her sister Najwa, aged four, in June last year, when she was struck by an explosive Israeli bullet in the heart while he was helping her eat breakfast inside the family’s tent.

On Monday, two days after her injury, Nasser Hospital announced Saba’s death from her injuries, before she could take the test she had been preparing for, recite the third part that she had spent hours reviewing, or receive the certificate of appreciation and the gift she had been awaiting from her teacher at the honouring ceremony.

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The loss of the life they knew before the start of the genocidal assault in the Gaza Strip is having a devastating effect on Palestinian children with autism spectrum disorder.

The Israelis have destroyed everything that 16-year-old Ahmed Hatem al-Mahabeel, who lives with autism, once knew and that gave structure to his life: his bedroom, his school, and the sports academy he would attend. The Israelis have left none of it standing; Ahmed now lives amid the rubble of Khan Yunis.

During the relative stability before the genocide in Gaza, Ahmed was doing well. He was progressing through school under the supervision of a specialist. He was training at a football academy, as well as memorising the Quran and excelling in English.

Now it has all come to a stop.

“Ahmed used to go to the mosque and the club on his own, making excellent progress, but the war destroyed everything we built,” his mother Umm Ahmed told Al Jazeera. “He suffers from extreme sensitivity to sudden noise; when explosions sound, he enters a severe panic attack, covering his ears and swaying. In cases of extreme terror, he resorts to self-harm, hitting his head against the ground to escape the sound.”

The ongoing Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip has severely limited the food, medicines, and other essentials that enter the enclave. This is leading to catastrophic consequences for children on medication. Severe malnutrition and protein deficiency caused Ahmed’s appendix to rupture.

“With food shortages, complications led to a wound infection, forcing doctors to perform a second surgical operation to open the abdomen and clean it until he recovered,” Umm Ahmed recalled.

As the Israelis continue to bombard Gaza at will despite the October “ceasefire,” Ahmed is forced to spend most of his time indoors. His family hopes to travel outside Gaza for his treatment.

“All our hope is for Ahmed to get an opportunity to travel abroad for treatment and rehabilitation, to reclaim what the war took from him,” his mother said.

Struggle for normalcy

In central Gaza, 19-year-old Muneer al-Haj struggles intensely whenever he hears the sound of bombings. “When he hears air strikes, he squeezes his hands tightly into fists, pacing back and forth while making sounds to block out the noise,” Al Jazeera reported. Before the genocide, however, Muneer was doing well. “He attended school, and displayed strong communication skills and a talent for drawing.”

The genocidal Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip saw his condition regress to screaming fits and seizure-like symptoms. Moreover, the shortage of medicines in the enclave due to the Israeli siege has led to a reduction in the dosage of his medication.

“He used to communicate and express himself clearly, but the war consumed everything… this safe space dissolved facing hardship and fear,” Muneer’s father said. “He now asks urgent questions we cannot answer, entering severe attacks if unresolved. We try to reassure him during shelling, saying ‘God will protect us’, but he realises what is happening, expressing his anguish by saying: ‘I am without shelter or a homeland.’”

“The absence of a safe space and the depletion of sedatives turned our attempts to calm our children into individual efforts fraught with fear and confusion,” Muneer’s father added.

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Medicine shortage

The lack of a routine resulting from Israeli savagery, which has seen families displaced multiple times with ever-diminishing belongings, has been especially traumatic for children like Ahmed and Muneer.

“A child with autism relies entirely on routine and calm to feel safe,” explained psychological specialist Diaa Abu Aoun, who has worked with Ahmed. “When forced to live in a tent amidst continuous explosions, their brain receives a sensory shock it cannot process. This fear translates into insomnia, digestive issues, and severe screaming fits where the child completely loses control.”

The shortage of medicines is also compounding the suffering of children with autism in the decimated Gaza Strip.

“The sudden interruption or forced reduction of psychiatric and anti-convulsant medication doses… creates severe disruption in brain chemistry,” Abu Aoun said. “When a child is deprived of medication or receives only half a dose, the nervous system enters a severe rebound effect. Violent fits and acute convulsions increase, driving self-harm and preventing response to behavioural training.”

During their genocidal assault, the Israelis destroyed the Palestine Center for Special Education and killed its former director, Arij Abu Sultan. This has meant that families with autistic children have had to assume greater therapeutic roles.

“An autistic child cannot survive without a predictable ecosystem; routine is a neurological safety valve,” Reem Jarour, the head of autism programmes at Gaza’s Dolphins Association for Education and Community Development, said.

“What we witness today in Gaza is the total destruction of the behavioural foundations built over years. Sudden displacement turns environmental triggers into acute threats, leading to massive regression in linguistic and social skills.”

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A US judge on Monday dismissed a criminal case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after the Trump administration decided to drop fraud and bribery charges against him.

Adani’s lawyer, Robert Giuffra, who also represents Trump, told Justice Department officials in April that the businessman would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy if the charges were dropped.

“Mr. Giuffra’s efforts on Mr. Adani’s behalf culminated in a previously unreported meeting last month at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, according to people familiar with the meeting. Mr. Giuffra ticked through about 100 slides outlining why prosecutors lacked basic evidence, as well as the jurisdiction even to bring the case, one of the people said,” The New York Times reported in May.

“Another slide also made an unusual offer: If prosecutors dropped the charges, Mr. Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs, echoing a pledge he had made in the wake of Mr. Trump’s election.”

Facing charges of bribing Indian officials to secure a government contract and then misleading American investors by providing reassuring information about his company’s anti-corruption practices, Adani had promised to invest $10 billion and create 15,000 jobs in the United States.

That proved to be enough for him to get off the hook in a deeply corrupt Trump administration that has elevated brazen corruption to an art form.

“The Justice Department’s decision marked the latest instance in which federal prosecutors had sought to drop a high-profile white-collar criminal ​prosecution during Republican President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House,” a Reuters report noted.

Modi patron

Adani Group is one of India’s largest conglomerates, with business interests ranging from ports to power plants, renewable energy, airports, logistics, weapons manufacturing, cement factories, and media. A staunch supporter of Hindutva — the Hindu supremacist ideology espoused by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been ruling India for the past 12 years — Adani played a key role in Modi’s prime ministerial campaign in 2014. Adani, who, like Modi, comes from Gujarat, provided private jets and helicopters as Modi flitted from one election campaign to another in 2014.

That relationship has yielded vast riches for Adani.

In the 12 years that Modi has been in power, Adani’s fortune has skyrocketed from roughly $7 billion to upwards of $90 billion. His conglomerate has acquired vast swathes of land for pennies; the Modi government has been looking the other way as Adani firms have been flouting regulations and chopping down trees by the hundreds of thousands. Recently, an Indian Supreme Court redefinition of what constitutes a mountain range meant that 90 percent of the Aravalli hills could be opened up to mining and luxury real-estate projects, potentially turning the area into the Adani Group’s playground at the expense of northern India’s ecosystem. Following widespread protests and criticism, the court has put the redefinition on hold and ordered a fresh expert assessment.

The intense hatred of Muslims that informs both Jewish and Hindu supremacists has meant that the Israelis have found a willing partner in Modi’s friend when it comes to securing Indian capital in Israeli businesses.

In 2022, Adani acquired a 70 percent stake in Haifa Port in northern Israel. Four years earlier, Adani had entered into a partnership with the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit to manufacture drones in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. The fruits of that partnership were dropped on the heads of helpless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as India became an eager participant in the genocide.

The Adani-owned media group NDTV proudly celebrated India’s role in the slaughter of Palestinians at the peak of the ongoing genocide:

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Transnational corruption

Modi was banned by several Western states from travelling for his role in facilitating the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat in 2002, when he was the state’s chief minister.

More than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were burned alive, hacked, lynched, and raped as Hindu thugs ran amok under the protection of the state. Instead of tarnishing Modi’s reputation, the pogroms burnished his credentials for India’s premiership.

Soon after his 2014 win in the federal elections, all travel restrictions against Modi were promptly dropped as the West welcomed the hate-spewing leader to stadia full of drooling Indian expats.

In 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, breaking a taboo in Indian politics. His latest visit to the Jewish state came merely days before the Israeli-US attack on Iran in February. Speaking from the Knesset, Modi declared India’s unwavering support for the genocidal Jewish state: “India stands with Israel, firmly, with full conviction, in this moment, and beyond.”

The Israelis returned the favour by conferring a made-up award on him to indulge his award-collecting ego.

After years of being treated as a pariah by the Western powers, Modi has become the apple of their eye, with the huge Indian market of 1.46 billion people providing them with a vast market in which to flog their wares.

As Modi’s political power has soared, the fortunes of his cronies, such as Adani, have rapidly accelerated northwards.

With one of the most overtly corrupt American administrations in charge, Adani’s unscrupulous practices, which have enabled him to accumulate an enormous personal fortune, are also going global.

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It’s been a year since the Israelis dropped a bomb on a journalists’ tent just outside Al-Shifa Hospital on August 10, 2025, killing Al Jazeera’s Anas Al-Sharif and four of his colleagues: Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. Through his journalism, forged in the searing heat of the Gaza Holocaust, Anas had become the voice of his people as they were being slaughtered round the clock by the Israelis, who were dropping the most devastating Western-supplied bombs with total impunity.

Anas’s courageous journalism, which saw him report from the scenes of numerous Israeli massacres, had made him a prime target for assassination. He continued to report on Israeli war crimes from northern Gaza, despite evacuation orders. Having already witnessed the martyrdom of dozens of his colleagues, including his close friend, Ismail al-Ghoul, Anas was fully aware of the danger he was facing.

Mere weeks before his assassination, he told CPJ that he lived with the “feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment.”

Anas was unwilling to leave his people, even if it came at the expense of his own life.

His mother, Fawzia Al-Sharif, recounted how he rejected evacuation for himself, his wife, and his mother, stating that he would only leave Gaza “for paradise.”

Anas knew he was among the top names on the Israeli hit list, and his press vest would be no protection against a genocidal entity that has slaughtered more than 250 journalists since the start of the Gaza genocide without repercussions.

Anas, who was only 28 at the time of his martyrdom, had written his will months in advance of his assassination, and its final message — “Do not forget Gaza” — echoes louder than ever as his people continue to be slaughtered day and night, a year after his martyrdom:

This is my will, and my final message.

If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.

First, peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.

God knows that I have given everything I possess, every effort and every ounce of strength, to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that God would grant me enough years to return, with my family and loved ones, to our original hometown of occupied Asqalan (“al-Majdal”). But God’s will came first, and His decree is carried out.

I have lived through pain in all its details, and I have tasted loss and grief many times. Yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth exactly as it was, without falsification or distortion, so that God may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who suffocated our breath, and those whose hearts were unmoved by the torn bodies of our children and women, and who did nothing to stop the massacre our people have endured for more than a year and a half.

I entrust you with Palestine, the jewel of the crown of Muslims, and the heartbeat of every free soul in this world.

I entrust you with its people and with its wronged, innocent children, who were not given enough time in life to dream or live in safety and peace—whose pure bodies were crushed beneath thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered against the walls.

I entrust you not to be silenced by chains, nor held back by borders. Be bridges toward the liberation of land and people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our usurped homeland.

I entrust you with my family, to treat them well.

I entrust you with the apple of my eye, my beloved daughter, Sham, whom the days did not allow me to watch grow as I had always dreamed.

And I entrust you with my dear son, Salah, whom I wished to stand beside and guide until he became strong enough to bear my burdens and carry on the mission.

I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose blessed prayers brought me to where I am, whose supplications were my fortress, and whose light was my path. I pray that God strengthens her heart and rewards her for me with the best of rewards.

And I entrust you also with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah, Bayan, whom the war separated from me for long days and months, yet she remained faithful to the covenant, steadfast like the trunk of an olive tree that does not bend, patient and steadfast, carrying the trust in my absence with all her strength and faith.

I entrust you to gather around them and to be their support after God Almighty.

If I die, I die steadfast upon the principle, and I bear witness before God that I am content with His decree, faithful in meeting Him, and certain that what is with God is better and everlasting.

O God, accept me among the martyrs, forgive me my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family.

Forgive me if I have fallen short, and pray for me with mercy, for I have kept my covenant and have neither changed nor altered.

Do not forget Gaza…

And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.

Anas Jamal al-Sharif

06 April 2025

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The crushing Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip is leading to catastrophic conditions for genocide survivors as they endure severe shortages of food, water, medicine, shelter, and other essential supplies.

Two-thirds of the population is suffering from food insecurity, according to the latest UN assessment. “Approximately 67 percent of Gaza’s population suffers from food insecurity, while more than 200,000 people — about 10 percent of the population — are in the phase immediately preceding a formal famine declaration under the international food security classification,” Justin Brady, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Palestine, said last week.

For the people of Gaza, this translates to a daily struggle for food.

Sahar al-Bardini is the sole provider for her three young children — Omar (6 years old), Sama (4), and Mahmoud (3) — after her husband was killed by the Israelis in northern Gaza three years ago. “During last year’s famine, the whole family — Omar and Sama in particular — suffered from a lack of food and vital nutrients,” Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. “Eggs and vegetables were difficult to find in markets and when available, almost impossible to afford.

“Even though the family can eat more regularly today, they still only have one meal a day.”

Sahar’s young children are still feeling the effects of the famine from last year, when malnutrition and hunger triggered by Israel’s medieval siege killed at least 361 Palestinians, including 130 children.

“Omar and Sama became very weak during the famine and lost a lot of weight. Even after food became more available, it took them around six months to gradually regain their health and weight,” Sahar told Al Jazeera. “My biggest fear is that my children will become weak again. I want to see them healthy, but the food they need isn’t easy for me to provide every day.”

Sahar, who lives in a tent at the al-Zawaida camp in central Gaza, gets food from community kitchens, where the meals consist mostly of rice and other basic staples, but she very rarely gets meat. The children are deprived of the essential nutrients and protein they need to grow.

“The meal fills their stomachs, but it doesn’t contain everything a child’s body needs to be properly nourished and regain strength,” Sahar said. “The children need a more varied diet — they need eggs, vegetables, fruit, meat and other things. I try to provide whatever I can but my means are limited.”

The food vouchers and any assistance she receives all go towards funding the family’s most urgent need: food. “When I receive food vouchers, I try to make the most of them. Everything is expensive, and I’m carrying the responsibility of three children on my own,” she said.

Shimaa, 25, the mother of two-year-old Selina, recounted how, in the absence of milk during the last famine, she was forced to find alternatives for her daughter.

“I tried to feed her whatever I had. Sometimes I gave her lentils instead of milk because I didn’t have milk to give her,” she told Al Jazeera. “I work day and night so I can provide her with food and everything she needs — everything I do is so I can see her in better health.”

Despite her hard work to feed her child, the mother is unable to stave off the effects of hunger on her young daughter.

“Even after the famine eased, its effects didn’t go away for my daughter,” Shimaa said. “I’m worried about her and I’m trying to do everything I can to help her get better.”

Despite the supposed ceasefire of last October, the Israelis have kept a tight leash on the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. They have allowed only a small fraction of the 600 aid trucks agreed to enter Gaza each day. As a result, Gaza’s genocide survivors continue to struggle for normalcy. Children, with their weak bodies and weakened immunity, are bearing the brunt of the Israeli savagery.

Also read: Israel has killed one Palestinian child every day since the ‘ceasefire’

“A child who has experienced severe malnutrition needs a period of regular nutrition and follow-up care to regain their weight and resume healthy growth,” nutrition specialist Dr. Ghada Jibril told Al Jazeera.

“The end of acute hunger does not mean that the effects of malnutrition disappear immediately. Children need a varied diet, not simply enough food to fill their stomachs — protein, iron, vitamins and minerals are essential for growth, brain development and a strong immune system. Recovering from malnutrition takes time, appropriate food and follow-up care.”

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For all our modern sophistications, sensibilities, and gadgetry that includes such products as million-dollar watches that keep the most accurate time and vehicles that whirr the least while transporting our fat selves from 0 to 100-something kilometres an hour in a jiffy, we have allowed medieval barbarism to be visited upon our fellow beings in the Gaza Strip for nearly three years.

Not only have we allowed thousand-pound bombs to be dropped on fragile, emaciated bodies, vapourising them out of existence within seconds, but we have also allowed the suffering of the Palestinians to continue in other forms, even when the pace of those bombings has slowed.

The latest manifestation of this depravity we have allowed in broad daylight is the ongoing recovery of bodies from the millions of tonnes of rubble to which the Western-supplied bombs have reduced nearly the entirety of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s Civil Defence on Saturday announced the recovery of 19 bodies from the rubble of a destroyed residential building in Gaza City. In a world where multistorey buildings can now be erected in a matter of weeks with advanced machinery, it took four days for civil defence personnel to dig up the bodies that had lain buried for months. Denied access to basic excavation equipment by a medieval Israeli siege, which has deprived Palestinians of access to proper food, clean water, and essential medicines, teams in Gaza have been working with rudimentary tools and their bare hands to remove thousands of tonnes of rubble, reaching long-buried bodies and giving them dignified burials.

This latest recovery comes close on the heels of a mass funeral held in Gaza City on Tuesday, when the remains of 112 people from two families were pulled from a building that was flattened by the Israelis in November 2023.

More than 8,000 bodies are estimated to remain buried beneath the rubble. At the current pace, it could take decades to recover them.

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What we have witnessed in Gaza over the past three years are two separate worlds. One in which the supposedly civilised West has bared its fangs and facilitated the supposedly civilised Jewish state in digging deep into the flesh of emaciated Palestinian babies, poisoning their wells, forcing little children to trade school bags for jerrycans nearly half their own size, destroying schools, erasing entire school years, and torturing parents with devices that would put savages of the Middle Ages to shame.

Then there is the other world. In it, the most pertinent discussion appears to centre on the leadership of a football body; supposedly civilised Europe would not allow a corrupt autocrat to sell off shares in the World Cup. That’s a red line for European leaders, one of whom was unequivocal when declaring that the Jewish state had the “right” to lay siege on the Gaza Strip and to cut off power and water to the 2.3 million Palestinians in the enclave.

In this other world, the mass annihilation of more than two million people livestreamed in 4K is not a red line.

It is as if we are living in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: a technologically sophisticated, comfortable society coexisting with suffering that is geographically and psychologically compartmentalised. But unlike Le Guin’s fictional world, where the misery inflicted upon the child takes place away from the public eye, the extermination of Gaza’s million-plus children, their parents, and their grandparents is not hidden from public view.

It is all out there.

This savagery is not condemned. There is not even an attempt to conceal it. It is justified, defended, and even celebrated.

The supposedly civilised world has demonstrated that it possesses an extraordinarily refined vocabulary for describing the integrity of institutions of ultimately trivial consequence and the sanctity of commercial arrangements. Yet when it comes to the destruction of an entire people, there is nothing but handwaving, while the corpses of the wretched of the earth accumulate beneath the rubble, to be eaten away by worms before they can be recovered, if at all, with bare hands years down the line.

But let not this lived daily reality come in the way of the screening of the next match, or the front-row seats at the latest concert, where we will be rocking our newest pair of sneakers snapped up from the latest drop.

The obscenity. The sheer obscenity of the world we inhabit.

What does our civilisation say about itself when its technological sophistication has advanced immeasurably faster than its capacity — or willingness — to recognise the suffering of people outside its circle of concern?

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Dr. Muneer al-Boursh, the director general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, has called for urgent action to save his colleague Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya before “it is too late.”

Dr. al-Boursh posted an appeal on his Twitter account on Saturday as concerns for Dr. Abu Safiya’s life continue to mount amid a flurry of recent reports about his deteriorating health in Israeli rape and torture dungeons, where he is being relentlessly tortured and denied access to medical treatment despite sustaining grievous injuries as a result of severe beatings by the Israelis.

The Prisoners’ Media Office said that on July 27, 2026, Dr. Abu Safiya was subjected to the most violent crackdown since his arrest, describing it as “the hardest of his life in prison.” Last month, the incarcerated doctor appealed to his lawyer to “do everything possible to get me out of this place,” having told him during an earlier visit: “This is the last time you will see me… They brought me here to kill me.”

He is currently being held at the underground Rakefet dungeon, where he was transferred on June 24.

“Serious concerns are mounting over the life and health of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, amid reports that he has been assaulted in detention and sustained injuries to his eye, head, and chest,” Dr. al-Boursh wrote. “If these reports are coupled with continued detention and the absence of independent medical assessment and adequate care, his condition becomes a matter of grave concern requiring immediate action — not delayed statements.

“Dr. Abu Safiya remained beside his patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital through some of Gaza’s darkest days. Today, he is behind bars, deprived of his freedom, while concerns over his physical safety and conditions of detention continue to grow.”

Dr. al-Boursh continued, “The irony is devastating:

“The doctor who protected his patients’ lives under bombardment is now the one who needs protection.

“The physician who once stood between death and his patients now needs the world to stand between him and danger.”

Dr. Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, refused to give in to the Israeli demands and kept the hospital running during the barbaric Generals’ Plan, under which the Israelis intended to evacuate all residents from northern Gaza.

The hospital became a refuge for not only the patients but also residents with nowhere to go. The doctor also documented Israeli attacks on the hospital through his social media accounts. He was eventually abducted with other hospital staff after the Israelis forced the evacuation of the hospital on December 27, 2024.

He has since spent nearly 600 days in detention without being charged or tried.

The Israelis have severely restricted access to lawyers for Palestinian detainees and completely prohibited humanitarian organisations from meeting the hostages and assessing the conditions in which they are being held.

“We hold the Israeli authorities fully responsible for his life and safety and demand an urgent, independent and comprehensive medical examination, access to all necessary treatment, protection from torture and ill-treatment, and immediate access for relevant international and human rights organizations to assess his condition and conditions of detention,” Dr. al-Boursh wrote in his appeal.

“We call upon the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and international and human rights organizations to act immediately and effectively. Time is not a minor detail here: every hour of delay may place his life at greater risk.

“The world must not wait for another tragic announcement before issuing statements of regret — when intervention may already be too late.

“Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is not merely a number on a list of detainees. He is a physician, a human being, and one of the voices of Gaza’s healthcare system.

“Save Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya before it is too late.

“Freedom for Dr. Abu Safiya and for all detained healthcare workers.”

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The Israelis have been dropping the most destructive bombs on civilian infrastructure such as schools, universities, hospitals, and administrative buildings in the Gaza Strip and killing hundreds of civilians on the pretext that these civilians are being used as human shields by the Palestinian resistance.

In nearly three full years of their ongoing barbarism, they have yet to produce a single piece of evidence of Palestinian fighters using civilians as human shields. On the contrary, all combat footage published by the resistance has shown fighting taking place away from the civilian population.

There is mounting evidence, however, that the Israelis are using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi has published a leaked photo showing two blindfolded elderly Palestinian men from Beit Lahia in Gaza, hours before the Israelis executed them in November 2024, having used the two men as human shields.

“Captured in their final hours,” Tirawi wrote in a Twitter post. “A new obtained image, which is the last known photo of the two elderly Palestinians Nadi & Ali Marouf, captured hours prior to their execution by IDF forces in Beit Lahia on Nov 2024.”

“Used as human baits & then executed,” he added. “So cruel that words fail.”

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In October 2025, Tirawi posted a three-panel photo collage showing the two men stripped to their underwear and seemingly being pushed into a destroyed building by an Israeli terrorist.

The other two photos in the collage show the men wrapped in burial shrouds after being executed by the Israelis.

“Israeli troops from the 92nd Battalion of the Kfir Brigade abducted two elderly Palestinians from Beit Lahia and used them as human shields for days before killing them,” Tirawi wrote.

“The victims, both elderly men, were identified as Ali Marouf and Nadi Marouf. They were killed by the troops shortly after being released near the Tawwam Junction on 9 November 2024.”

Pervasive use of human shields

The Israeli press has widely documented the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields by the occupation forces.

Haaretz published an opinion piece titled In Gaza, Almost Every IDF Platoon Keeps a Human Shield, a Sub-army of Palestinian Slaves, written by an anonymous Israeli army officer in March 2025, in which the writer described a practice soldiers called the “mosquito protocol.” Under the practice, detained Palestinian civilians — referred to by soldiers as “shawishes” — were forced to enter and inspect houses and tunnels ahead of Israeli troops to check for explosives or fighters.

Giving a sense of how widespread the practice was at the peak of the Israeli genocide, the officer wrote: “In Gaza, human shields are used by Israeli soldiers at least six times a day.”

On May 24, 2025, the Associated Press published an extensive report on how the Israelis use innocent Palestinians as human shields:

Several Palestinians and soldiers told the AP that Israeli troops are systematically forcing Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza, sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for explosives or militants. The dangerous practice has become ubiquitous during 19 months of war, they said.

In November 2025, Reuters revealed that the depraved Biden administration was aware of this Israeli war crime but took no action to curb it.

Every accusation is a confession

Just as every claim the Israelis have made about Palestinians has been revealed to be nothing more than a confession of their own war crimes and barbaric beliefs and practices, the human-shield narrative has also gone in the same direction.

Given the impunity the Israelis have enjoyed as they have proudly carried out the world’s first livestreamed genocide for nearly three years, it is only a matter of time before they move from flimsy denials of their use of human shields to outright claiming that using elderly Palestinian civilians as human shields and then executing them in cold blood is the most moral military practice ever devised.

You can count on Western leaders to clap like seals when they eventually hear the Israelis make that admission.

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Dr. Musab Samman, like many of the medical professionals in the Gaza Strip, continued to provide care for his patients despite the Israeli assault on Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare workers at the peak of the ongoing genocide. The young doctor’s steadfastness meant that he became one of the dozens of medical staff abducted by the Israelis and put away in their rape and torture dungeons without charge or trial.

Coming from Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, Dr. Samman was destined for greatness from childhood. “Our son was a genius from an early age,” his father, Fakhri Samman, told Quds News Network. “He was always first in his class.”

A life centred around books saw him become a haafiz (memoriser of the Qur’an) while he was still in fifth grade. He graduated from high school with 97.9 percent and went on to enrol in the Islamic University of Gaza’s Faculty of Medicine. After graduating with honours, he went on to become a teaching assistant.

For the budding doctor, his grades did not define him. He chose medicine to serve his people. “It was never about status,” his father says. “He loved medicine because he believed it was a purely humanitarian profession.”

Abducted from his hospital

When the Israelis accelerated their barbarism in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Samman spent longer hours at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, where he worked as a general physician.

“He never abandoned his patients,” his father told QNN, despite his family begging him to leave the hospital for his own safety.

The Israelis shelled the Nasser Medical Complex in the early morning of February 15, 2024, killing one person and injuring eight others. The Israeli attack resulted in an “undetermined number of people killed and injured,” according to Doctors Without Borders. Everyone leaving the hospital was screened by the Israelis at a checkpoint.

Dr. Samman, along with fellow medical workers from the hospital, was eventually abducted by the Israelis on February 16. By the time the Israelis had left the hospital on February 22, it was severely damaged and had been put out of service.

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The doctor’s forced absence from the Gaza Strip has not diminished the love that his people have for him. “They kiss my head because I am Musab’s father,” Fakhri said. “They tell me stories about how he treated them.”

“When I visit Nasser Hospital, every visit makes me proud of my son.”

Friends describe him as the person everyone leaned on. “Musab was like a mountain,” one friend told his father. “He carried all of us.”

Inside his family, he was more than a son. “He is everything,” his sister, Hadeel, said. “He is the one everyone depended on.”

Disappeared without a trace

For five days after his abduction from the Nasser Medical Complex, Dr. Samman’s family had no idea about his whereabouts. Communication stopped completely.

“We didn’t know whether he was killed or imprisoned,” his father recalled.

Only after learning from Dr. Samman’s colleagues about his abduction did the family begin searching desperately for information. For nearly two months, they found no trace of him.

It was only through a released detainee that the family learned that he was alive and in Israeli captivity. Despite the high cost, the family managed to hire a lawyer. Six months after the doctor’s abduction, the lawyer was finally able to visit him and reassure his family that he was alive.

The Israelis have severely restricted lawyer and family access to detainees from the Gaza Strip, as well as from the West Bank. They have even refused to share information about hundreds of detainees, leaving their families in limbo over their whereabouts. Many of those who disappeared are feared to have been killed by the Israelis in their rape and torture dungeons.

Dr. Samman remains incarcerated. More than two and a half years since his abduction, he has not been charged with any wrongdoing. He is held under Israel’s “unlawful combatants law,” which allows the Israelis to keep Palestinian detainees indefinitely in detention without charge or trial. Lawyers from Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHRI) have been following up on his case, as well as the cases of other doctors abducted from the Gaza Strip.

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‘You are the laughter of our home’

Dr. Samman’s family was hopeful that he would be among the Palestinian detainees released as part of the exchange deal between the Israelis and the Palestinian resistance in October 2025. However, he wasn’t released.

The Israelis also refused to release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, despite intense speculation. More than a dozen doctors, including Dr. Hassan Khalil Almukayed and Dr. Marwan al-Hams, remain incarcerated in Israeli dungeons, where they are being relentlessly tortured.

The abduction of Gaza’s doctors has been part of the Israeli plan to systematically dismantle the besieged enclave’s medical infrastructure and make it inhospitable for genocide survivors. The Israelis have killed more than 1,700 medical professionals since the start of their ongoing genocide in October 2023. Hundreds more remain incarcerated without charge or trial.

Dr. Samman’s father is acutely aware of the toll the abduction of doctors like his son is taking on Gaza. “It is not only Musab who has been abducted,” he says. “When a doctor is removed from a hospital, an entire community loses someone who was there to save lives.”

“Musab,” he says, “you are the laughter of our home. You are the joy of our childhood. You are the friend who never needed an invitation.”

“You are the place we return to when life becomes too heavy. You are the light of our eyes. The heartbeat of our family. The healing of our souls.”

“We pray that God relieves your suffering, breaks your chains, heals your body, and brings you home.”

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Due to the deliberate Israeli destruction of Gaza’s medical infrastructure and the continuing siege of the enclave, more than 11,000 cancer patients are facing an imminent threat to their lives.

Israel continues to prevent lifesaving medicines from entering the besieged enclave, leading to a “severe shortage of medicines essential for cancer treatment, including chemotherapy drugs, lifesaving medicines, and supportive treatments,” the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported on Thursday.

“This shortage has forced many patients to suspend their treatment protocols and has deprived thousands of others of the medical care they urgently need, raising serious concerns about the rapid deterioration of their health conditions and severely undermining their chances of recovery and survival.”

The Israelis have deliberately and meticulously destroyed Gaza’s medical infrastructure during their ongoing genocide. Starting with the bombing of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which killed nearly 500 Palestinians in the second week of the genocide, the Israelis proceeded to attack all 36 of Gaza’s hospitals, including Al-Shifa Hospital, the enclave’s largest. After a days-long siege, the hospital was left as nothing more than “an empty shell,” according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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In 2023, the Israelis evacuated the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Gaza’s only specialised cancer hospital, turned it into a base for their terrorist army, and bombed it out of existence in March 2025.

Less than half of Gaza’s hospitals are now only partially functioning as they grapple with severe shortages of fuel, medicines, and equipment.

The Israelis have gone on to kill over 1,700 healthcare professionals, including dozens of senior doctors. They raped and tortured Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, the renowned head of orthopaedics at Al-Shifa Hospital, to death. Hundreds of medical workers remain incarcerated in Israeli rape and torture dungeons, including over a dozen senior doctors. The case of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has become symbolic of the Israeli treatment of Gaza’s medical professionals.

Having decimated Gaza’s medical infrastructure, the Israelis have prevented its reconstruction and continue to prohibit the entry of medicines and medical equipment needed to meet the needs of genocide survivors.

They also severely restrict medical evacuations through the Rafah crossing. As a result, thousands of cancer patients are left facing a slow and excruciating death in their tattered tents, which are infested with insects, overrun by rodents, and lacking electricity to provide relief from the searing summer heat.

The PCHR report says that “around 4,000 cancer patients have been denied to travel abroad for treatment, despite requiring urgent medical care that is unavailable in the Gaza Strip. In practice, this amounts to sentencing them to a slow death.”

Israeli savagery against Palestinian cancer patients in Gaza is resulting in unprecedented suffering.

Omar ‘Arafat Ibrahim al-Khawajah (64) recounted his son’s predicament due to Israeli intransigence:

My 29-year-old son’s suffering began some time before he was diagnosed with cancer. He had persistent pain and abdominal cramps, but the initial diagnosis failed to identify the cause of his condition. In mid-October 2025, an ultrasound revealed multiple masses, and subsequent tests confirmed that he had cancer. My son initially received a treatment protocol consisting of six chemotherapy doses, but it was not appropriate for his condition, leading to a deterioration in his health. After his treatment was changed to a different protocol under the supervision of his treating physician, he received three doses, which resulted in an improvement in his condition and a reduction of approximately 30% in the number of cancer cells. However, the treatment was suspended because the medicines needed to complete the remaining doses were unavailable. The doctors informed us that he urgently needed to travel abroad for treatment. We completed all the procedures for his medical referral shortly after his diagnosis, but we are still waiting for a travel appointment.

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Almazah Bahjat Ibrahim Abu Haniyah (69), who suffers from multiple ailments, including cancer, is left facing imminent death as the Israelis have refused her medical evacuation:

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on 13 January 2019 and underwent a total mastectomy for my right breast. In 2021, the cancer spread to my spinal vertebrae. I returned to the Gaza Strip in mid-September 2023 after completing some medical tests outside the Strip, but with the outbreak of the war, I was denied travel to continue my treatment. I received several rounds of chemotherapy in hospitals across Gaza, but my condition has not improved. I am currently living in a tent in the ‘Insan’ camp in Deir al-Balah. In addition to cancer, I suffer from diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, and coronary artery disease. Although I have had a medical referral for treatment in Egypt since 14 August 2025 and was officially informed on 12 June 2026 that my name had been placed on the travel list, I have still not been able to leave Gaza. I am now suffering from severe shortness of breath and constant pain that prevents me from sleeping or standing for more than a few minutes. I appeal to all relevant authorities to intervene urgently to save my life and allow me to travel for treatment before it is too late.

Given that the Israelis have continued to proudly commit a livestreamed genocide for nearly three years with total impunity, and that their Western funders and enablers have been fully onboard with their ghastly plans, the 11,000 cancer patients in Gaza can only hope for a miracle to alleviate their suffering.

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Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is enduring severe deterioration in his health due to persistent inhumane abuses at the hands of his Israeli captors. His cell in the underground Rakefet torture dungeon, where sunlight doesn’t reach, is repeatedly stormed by Israeli troops, who severely beat him; their most recent assault on the doctor resulted in fractured ribs, a Palestinian prisoner advocacy group said on Wednesday.

The Prisoners’ Media Office said that on July 27, 2026, Dr. Abu Safiya was subjected to the most violent crackdown since his arrest, describing it as “the hardest of his life in prison.” Detainees were severely beaten with batons, shocked with electric devices, fired upon with tear gas and rubber bullets, and attacked with police dogs.

The office added that Dr. Abu Safiya’s health is steadily deteriorating. He suffers from heart disease, high blood pressure, severe neck pain, a herniated disc, a hernia, and vision problems, in addition to persistent dizziness and a rapid heartbeat.

Continuing its practice of denying Palestinian detainees access to adequate medical treatment, the Israeli prison administration is providing only painkillers and medication for high blood pressure despite the seriousness of his condition.

The office stated that Dr. Abu Safiya was also subjected to a violent assault immediately after being transferred to Rakefet on June 24, 2026, when he was beaten with batons without any provocation, resulting in a fractured rib. The assaults continued, and he spent 21 days in solitary confinement under harsh conditions that further aggravated his condition.

Dr. Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been incarcerated in Israeli rape and torture dungeons since December 27, 2024, when he was abducted with members of his staff from the hospital after the Israelis forced its evacuation and proceeded to torch and destroy some of its buildings. He has been held as an “unlawful combatant,” which allows the Israelis to detain Palestinians indefinitely without charge. Nearly 600 days since his incarceration, the Israelis have brought no charges against the doctor.

But he is still no closer to freedom.

Instead, the doctor’s family fears for his life as his physical and mental condition continues to deteriorate with each passing day under relentless Israeli abuse.

Released detainees and Dr. Abu Safiya’s lawyers have repeatedly documented the rapid deterioration of his health as a result of severe abuse in Israeli captivity.

In May, a released detainee revealed that the Israelis forced Dr. Abu Safiya to spend “seven consecutive days shackled by both hands and feet, making basic tasks such as eating, drinking, and using the bathroom unbearably difficult.” In a bid to break him down, the Israelis forced the doctor “to repeat insulting phrases about himself while under severe torture.”

“They stripped him of his clothes and set dogs on him,” another former detainee revealed. “The dogs attacked him, scratched him, and knocked him to the ground.”

During a July 2 visit, his lawyer documented severe injuries, signs of physical assault, breathing difficulties, and repeated episodes of loss of consciousness, raising fears for his life.

At the time, the doctor told his lawyer: “This is the last time you will see me… They brought me here to kill me.”

Last month, Dr. Abu Safiya made a desperate appeal to his lawyer: “Do everything possible to get me out of this place.”

However, testimonies from lawyers and detainees, the documented deterioration in his health, and appeals from numerous human rights organisations have made no difference to the Israelis, as they continue to operate above international law and the norms of human behaviour.

More than 9,000 Palestinians remain incarcerated in Israeli rape and torture dungeons, including dozens of healthcare professionals abducted from the Gaza Strip during the ongoing Israeli Holocaust in the besieged enclave.

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Israel’s murderous rampage against the besieged children of Gaza continues apace, with a new report revealing that the Jewish state has slaughtered 300 Palestinian children in the 300 days since the start of the so-called “ceasefire” last October.

“This amounts to an average of one child every day, despite an agreement for the suspension of military operations and the full entry of humanitarian aid and relief almost 10 months ago,” UNICEF said on Thursday.

“A ceasefire that leaves an average of one child dead each and every day is failing children,” UNICEF official Edouard Beigbeder said. “With hundreds more children injured, many severely, children in Gaza are still waiting for the end to the violence they were promised.”

Genocide survivors in Gaza have been enduring an endless series of horrors since the start of the barbaric Israeli extermination campaign in October 2023. The Israelis continue to kill Palestinians in daily airstrikes, while severe restrictions on the entry of promised humanitarian aid into the enclave have deprived survivors of adequate food, clothing, and shelter.

Forced into a mere third of their territory due to the rapacious pace of Israeli occupation that continues to eat up more of their land each day, Palestinians’ suffering has been exacerbated by the total decimation of Gaza’s infrastructure. Children, who have been deprived of proper nutrition for nearly three years while enduring the loss of parents and other caregivers, have been the worst affected by Israel’s calculated savagery.

A UN report in June revealed a “consistent pattern of children being deliberately targeted by the Israeli security forces in Gaza.”

The report listed the following ways the Israelis have been killing Palestinian children in Gaza: sniper fire; armed quadcopter drone attacks; airstrikes and other strikes using heavy explosive weapons on homes and residential buildings; bombings of schools sheltering displaced people; attacks on displacement camps and tents; attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities; destruction of civilian infrastructure essential for children’s survival; and restrictions on food, water, medicine, and humanitarian aid that have caused children to die from malnutrition, dehydration, disease, and lack of medical care.

These same methods continue to kill Palestinian children, 33 months into the livestreamed genocide, with no end in sight.

The Israelis have killed at least 21,000 children since October 7, while more than 58,000 children have lost one or both parents in this ceaseless carnage. Numerous reports and surveys have revealed that all surviving children require psychosocial support to overcome the horrific trauma they continue to endure.

However, due to severe Israeli restrictions, most children have no access to any kind of psychological support or specialised treatment for their traumas.

The Israeli assault on Palestinian life also includes the killing of foetuses. “Residents searching through the rubble of an Israeli strike in western Gaza City recovered the body of an unborn baby after the attack killed a pregnant woman, her husband and their five-year-old son,” Al Jazeera reported last week.

Despite the Palestinian resistance’s willingness to disarm, the Israelis have shown no inclination to end their barbaric assault. “We did not agree to it,” Netanyahu said of the so-called Board of Peace’s Hamas disarmament plan. “It was not our draft.”

The killings have continued.

“For children in Gaza, the test is simple,” UNICEF’s Beigbeder said. “Does the killing stop? Does aid reach them at scale? Do hospitals reopen and water flow? Will children return to school safely in September?”

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Israeli terrorists erased another Palestinian family entirely from the civil registry when they bombed Al-Masri family’s home in central Gaza City early Tuesday morning. Hours earlier, Feras Al-Masri, his wife, Salsabil, and their children had celebrated the completion of their eldest son Naeem’s (13) Qur’an memorisation with sweets and congratulatory messages before the Israelis, at 2.45 am, in continuation of their ongoing Holocaust in the Gaza Strip, incinerated all six surviving members of the family as they slept.

“We all woke up terrified from our sleep — my wife, my children, and I,” Muhammad Al-Masri, Feras’s brother, who lived in the same building, told Ultra Palestine. “We tried to flee to the street, but the smoke was very thick, and the fire spread quickly, so we began screaming and calling for help until the neighbours managed to place a ladder at the window and get us out to the street.”

Initially, Muhammad was unaware that the explosion had struck the neighbouring apartment housing his brother’s family and their four children.

“As soon as I reached outside, I began hearing the screams of my brother’s children and his wife,” he recounted. “We could hear them clearly as they cried for help: Save us... the fire has reached us... get us out of the house before we burn.”

“Their cries for help continued for several minutes, and I could see the movement of their hands through one of the windows. It was the hardest moment of my life. Its details have never left me.”

The neighbours tried to rescue the family by climbing the stairs, but the intensity of the fire prevented them from doing so. A subsequent gas cylinder explosion in the apartment further intensified the flames and put paid to the rescue efforts.

“At that moment, I realised they had all been martyred, and I collapsed to the ground from the shock,” Muhammad said.

According to the latest data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 39,000 Palestinian families have been directly targeted since the start of the livestreamed Israeli genocide in October 2023, including more than 2,700 families that were completely wiped out after all of their members were martyred. More than 6,020 families have only one survivor.

Just hours before the martyrdom of the entire family, the scene at the Al-Masri home was one of joy and celebration. “The family gathered to celebrate Naeem’s completion of the memorisation the Holy Qur’an,” Muhammad recounted, as he told the story of Feras’s optimism despite the Western-backed Israeli barbarism he had lived through for nearly three years.

“We ate sweets and presented gifts to Feras, and he was extremely happy. After that, we began talking about people’s conditions and the difficult circumstances we are living through because of the war, but he always repeated that God’s relief was near, and that this reality could not continue. He was the most optimistic among us despite everything.”

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Both Feras and his wife, Salsabil, were religiously devout and were memorisers of the Qur’an. Muhammad told Ultra Palestine that Salsabil also worked as a teacher and helped others memorise the Qur’an, while their son Naeem had completed the memorisation of the holy book. He had recited five juz’ (portions) that day before he was martyred. As for his sisters, Faryal (10), Salma (7), and Ameera (5), they had also memorised portions of the Qur’an and were following the same path.

Academic excellence ran in the family, and the children were fond of drawing. Muhammad revealed: “All of my brother’s children were top students in their schools, and at the end of every school term they would return carrying certificates of appreciation. Whenever I asked them, ‘What gift do you want?’ they would ask for colouring supplies and drawing notebooks, because they loved drawing very much.”

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Israeli savagery reduced the thriving family — which had remained optimistic and continued to excel despite enduring an ongoing Holocaust and all the deprivations it had brought for nearly three years — to charred, unrecognisable remains. When the civil defence crews finally managed to enter the apartment after hours of effort, they were greeted by shocking scenes.

“Their bodies were completely burned, and we could not even look at them or bid them farewell as the civil defence crews recovered their bodies,” Muhammad recounted.

Like nearly every family in the Gaza Strip, Al-Masri family had already experienced tragedy earlier in the genocidal Israeli assault. Muhammad revealed that another brother’s wife and her little daughter had been martyred in an Israeli airstrike several months earlier. One of Feras’s sons had also been martyred in the same bombardment, and at dawn on Tuesday the family joined their fifth child.

“What sin did these children commit that they should die burned while they were asleep?” Muhammad cried out. “In what religion or law does this happen — that an entire family is erased from the civil registry while the world watches and says nothing?”

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