By Abdallah Aljamal – Gaza

The Palestine Chronicle met with three Palestinian children, some losing both parents and other family members, due to the ongoing Israeli war.

Over 17,000 Palestinian children in Gaza are now orphans, as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement on Tuesday. 

UNRWA added a menacing note about the fate of Palestinian babies in the besieged Strip. They are “slowly perishing under the world’s gaze,” the statement read.

Numbers, however, hardly reflect the true reality, especially during times of genocide.

To convey part of the story, missing in numbers and statistics, The Palestine Chronicle met with three Palestinian children, some losing both parents and other family members, due to the ongoing Israeli war.

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‘At My Mother’s Grave’

Muath Abu Atiyya is 11 years old. When an Israeli strike targeted his family home, he lost his father, mother and sister.

“My mother was my whole life, I spent all my time with her,” Muath told The Palestine Chronicle, “but now the occupation has deprived me of my mother, my father, and my family.”

“My mother used to teach me my lessons and review everything I learned at school for me, and my father cared for me and dreamed that I would become a teacher when I grow up,” he recalled. “But the occupation killed all our dreams,” he lamented.

“Every day, I go to my mother’s grave,” Muath continued. 

“I go to the cemetery to visit the graves of my mother, my father, and my sister. I sit for a long time by their graves and talk to them about everything. I tell them that I miss them, and that life without them is difficult and unbearable.”

Muath is now living at his uncle’s house, and everyone cares for him, but he misses his family very much. 

“Their love for me was greater than any love, and I miss them and look for them all the time. Please, I want my father and my mother back. I want nothing but to see my father, my mother, and my family again.”

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‘No One is Like My Father’

Obaida Farajallah is 15 years old from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. 

An Israeli airstrike targeted the house where his family was sheltering, about two months ago, and his father was killed.

“Since that tragic day, I have been searching for him. I miss his compassion, his tenderness, and his care. I wish my father would return from death and be with us,” Obaida told us.

“Everyone cares for me and loves me, but my father’s love for us was different. No one is like my father. He was my role model in every aspect of life. I want my father back; the occupation killed him and deprived us of the most beautiful thing in our lives.”

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‘Who Will Protect Us Now?’

Sarah Abu Shamala is only nine years old. She used to live with her family in the Bureij refugee camp, in central Gaza. 

One night, Israeli aircraft targeted their home, in a residential neighborhood and Sarah’s father was killed.

“My father loved me and cared for me,” Sarah told us.

“Throughout the war, he feared for us and constantly tried to protect us. But now he is gone, who is going to protect us now?”

“I miss him, and I wish to see him in my dreams,” Sarah added, this time failing to hold back tears.

(The Palestine Chronicle)