Here is an important example of what life was like for the children of Gaza before October 7.
In a 2015 BBC interview, Syed shared his experience:
Syed's life was shattered on the day the 12-year-old, his 11-year-old brother Mohamed, and their six cousins went to Gaza's beach to play football.
It was the natural playground for young boys from a family of fishermen which has lived off the sea for generations.
"We didn't know that beach was dangerous," says Syed
His eyes still, round, sad pools, as he remembers 16 July, one of the most harrowing days of the war.
By the end of that day, Mohamed and three of his cousins were dead. An Israeli investigation said its air force mistook the children for Hamas fighters when a pilot fired twice at a "compound" next to the beach.
Syed and the three other boys who survived still show small scars on their legs and disturbing signs of being severely traumatised.
"For the son I lost, my tears will never dry," says his mother. But she fears she lost two sons last summer.
"Those left behind are lost like those who died," she laments, as she looks across their small one-bedroom home at Syed, who stares blankly into the distance.
Syed finds it hard to sleep, and too tough to go to school because it reminds him of his brother. Even the sea, which had been a constant reference point in his life, no longer feels safe. "I never used to get scared, but now I do," he tells me as we ride in a speed boat close to the shore and he fiddles nervously with the cords of his life jacket.
ID: via The Slow Factory Access
"Gaza now has the largest population of child amputees in the world." [@/abrahammatar on X. June 5th, 2024.]
there are no words. she would still be alive but for "israel" and the imperialist coloniser west.
"A father bids farewell to his little daughter in Gaza" from Eye On Palestine, 28/Feb/2024:
This is Rami Hamdan Al-Halhouli. Today, he was shot and killed by an IDF sniper. HE WAS 12 YEARS OLD.
It's unfathomable, even more so when you realize this isn't the first time Israel has done this. She was a baby. The men were so obviously red crescent medics, and still, Israeli soldiers shot and killed them.
It wasn't a misfired bomb. It was guns. They knew what they were targeting.
Anyone who defends this, for whatever religion you believe in, even if you believe in nothing at all, I can only hope the afterlife brings you your deserved suffering on a platter. You're disgusting, vile creatures, who must've snuck onto the Earth because there is no way in nature that you are human. Die.
ูููุง ูููููููฐูู ููุฅููููุง ุฅููููููู ุฑูุงุฌูุนูููู
Save the children of Palestine. Protect the medics. Free Palestine. ๐ต๐ธ
Source: Middle East Eye
80 to 88 decomposed bodies of Palestinians, ruthlessly killed by Israel are returned.
This is Nazi level of brutality. Israel is the new Nazi Germany.
This is not a natural disaster. This was not inevitable. They didn't grow up like this. It was inflicted on them by the vilest sadists on earth.
In the early afternoon of 29 November last year, several Palestinian boys descended on to their street in the occupied West Bank, where they often played together.Minutes later, two of them lay dead from gunshots fired by Israeli soldiers - Basil, 15, and eight-year-old Adam. As part of an investigation into the conduct of Israel's security forces in the West Bank, which has been under military occupation for more than half a century, the BBC has pieced together what happened on the day the two boys were killed. Mobile phone and CCTV footage, information about the movements of Israel's military, witness testimony and detailed investigation of the scene, including taking measurements, combine to reveal evidence suggesting serious human rights violations. The evidence we found has prompted Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, to say the death of Adam appears to be a "war crime".Another legal expert, Dr Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, described the use of lethal force as โindiscriminateโ. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the circumstances of the deaths were โunder reviewโ but said โlive fire is used only in order to remove immediate threats or for arrest purposes, following arrest protocols after exhausting other optionsโ.
Video footage from 29 November shows Basil standing next to a hardware store, its shutters firmly locked down. When Israel's military arrives, shops close quickly in Jenin, a city in the West Bank - Palestinian territory which, unlike Gaza, is not run by Hamas. Witnesses said gunfire had been ringing out from a nearby operation by Israel's army in the Jenin refugee camp. Adam, a football fanatic and massive Lionel Messi fan, stood with his older brother Baha, 14. There were about nine boys on the street in total, all captured on CCTV cameras that provided a nearly 360-degree view of what happened next.
A few hundred metres away, a convoy of at least six armoured Israeli military vehicles turned a corner and began heading towards the boys, who clearly became uneasy. Several of the boys started to move away. At this precise moment, mobile phone footage shows the front door of an armoured vehicle opened. The soldier inside had a direct view of the boys. Basil had darted into the middle of the road, while Adam was 12m further from the soldiers, running away. Then at least 11 gunshots rang out.
Medical reports obtained by the BBC show that two shots hit Basil in the chest. Another bullet struck eight-year-old Adam in the back of the head as he ran away; his older brother Baha desperately tried to drag him to cover, leaving a trail of blood as he screamed for an ambulance.
alongside my respect for the Palestinian American woman, this is one of the single most uncomfortable videos ive ever seen not only because of how immediately those white karens were like "no you cannot talk about your family dying here you have to leave this is not important right now so shut up and leave" but also the cultish chanting by all the white people in the room?!?!!!! im done. i hate this. i hate yall. im so done.
from Rosy Pirani, 19/Jan/2024:
Caption: I am so proud of this Palestinian-American woman for calling out governorabbott - I am a Texan and this man does not represent us.
CANADA Feb 12 Montreal - 5 PM Ottawa - 4:30 PM Toronto - 5:30 PM Feb 13 Montreal - 5:30 PM UNITED STATES Feb 12 Austin - 5 PM Cleveland - 5:30 PM Los Angeles - 3 PM New York - 4 PM Seattle - 6 PM Washington DC - 6:30 PM
Feb 13 Atlanta - 7 PM Houston - 4 PM Philadelphia - 5:30 PM San Francisco - 5:30 PM
I'm sure more will be announced in the next few hours, please add any you see!!