‘I was afraid he would be bitten by mosquitoes, but they killed him with a missile’

The murder of an 8-year-old boy and Israel’s relentless war on Gaza’s children.

Jad Yousef Suleiman.

Since the start of the October “ceasefire,” the Israelis have killed 970 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and injured a further 3,063. Over the last few weeks, they have accelerated their barbaric campaign in the besieged enclave, slaughtering around a dozen civilians every day, while keeping a tight leash on aid entering the enclave. Children have borne the brunt of Israeli savagery. More than 21,000 children have been butchered and more than 51,000 children have been orphaned or separated from their parents since the start of the genocide on October 7.

Continuing their genocidal slaughter of Palestinian children, the Israelis killed 8-year-old Jad Yousef Suleiman in an airstrike in northern Gaza on Monday.

Yousef Suleiman, Jad’s father, told Ultra Palestine that his son woke up in the morning as usual and headed to the Mada Alternative School in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. Before leaving, Yousef asked him to stand in line to get bread instead of his older brother. Jad returned after a while, saying the line was very long — hundreds of people — and that the bread had not yet arrived.

“I got upset with him because he didn’t wait and didn’t help his brother, so I told him: your punishment today is no allowance,” Yousef told Ultra Palestine. The grieving father continued: “Jad took his sandwich and went to school, and on his way back he stopped by my workplace.”

He added: “Jad was used to passing by my work every day on his way home. He loved to greet me, kiss my hand, and buy something small from the shop before returning to the tent.”

In a choked voice, Yousef recalled the last minutes he spent with his son: “Today he came back from school and stopped by. He greeted me and kissed my hand, and I stroked his head. He asked me, ‘Dad, do you want anything?’ At that moment I felt that he wanted the allowance I had withheld that morning — and a father’s heart understands. I called him back and said, ‘Go, son, buy whatever you want.’ He signalled with two fingers, indicating he wanted two shekels, and I said, ‘Buy whatever you like, son.’”

The father recounted: “Jad bought a small bottle of juice, then continued towards the tent. He had only gone about thirty meters when the shelling struck near Anwar Aziz Mosque. I shouted to my brother: ‘The strike is very close. Jad… Jad…’ My heart dropped, and I felt Jad was near the site of the bombing.”

The stunned father continued: “I rushed to the site of the strike and found him lying face down on the ground, his schoolbag still on his back, blood pouring from his neck where a fragment of the missile had struck.

“We tried to carry him quickly to a nearby medical point that specialises in the treatment of child malnutrition. He still had a faint breath. We lifted his neck and saw the shrapnel. They tried to treat him and wrap the wound, but the bleeding was very heavy.”

Yousef paused briefly before continuing: “Jad was an eight-year-old child. He was coming back from school, carrying his bag, and had done nothing. But this occupation shows no mercy and does not distinguish between a child and a young man.”

The father spoke of his connection with his martyred son: “Jad was very attached to me. Since he was little, I loved him differently from his siblings — he was the middle child. Whatever he asked for, I tried to provide. He was very active, loved to play, chased birds and cats, and spent his day running and laughing. A child whose whole life was joy and innocence.”

Yousef Suleiman.

“I’m fond of keeping canary birds and cats, and Jad grew attached to them,” Yousef added. “In his last days, he kept asking me to buy him a bird and a cat, but he was martyred before I could fulfil his wish. I never knew he would leave so quickly.”

“Today I was going to buy him a mosquito net because mosquitoes were biting him while he slept. I was afraid he would be bitten by mosquitoes, but they killed him with a missile, without guilt or mercy.”

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