By Mudassar Ali Iqbal
There is no end to Israel’s atrocities in Palestine, especially Gaza, even one year after it went berserk.
Israel mounted assault on hapless people in response to what it said unprovoked Hamas attack on its territory.
Oct 7 marks the first anniversary of the Israel barbarity. The world has seen a profound human tragedy in the last one year in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
In Gaza, the value of life seems to ebb away in the haze of violence and politics. The most haunting reality of this conflict is the staggering number of civilian deaths - innocent men, women and children whose only misfortune was to be born in a land occupied by Zionists.
Over the last one year the Palestinian people have faced unimaginable horrors. The sheer magnitude of their sufferings cannot be overstated. Reports of bloodbath of Gazans in Israeli military operations paint a chilling picture of death and destruction.
Almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in military offensives in a single year. These are not just numbers; they are stories of shattered families, sour dreams of children cut in their prime, and mothers who will never again hold their loved ones.
STORY OF FARAH
This is the story of Farah who was found crying in the rubbles of her house which was destroyed by the Israeli air raids.
Farah, one-year old baby, and her two siblings survived the air raid at their abode. Sadly, her parents and other two siblings were killed in bombardment.
“She only knows the word ‘Mummy’ but her mother or father will never return to wipe her tears,” said an eyewitness.
Besides Farah, Sohail, 9, and Warda, 4, remained unscathed in bombing on their house.
Now, their young paternal uncle Hashim Masoud, 22, takes care of them.
“Since then, the kids have been struggling a lot, crying and constantly asking about their mother and father. Farah cries for hours, perhaps calling her mother for comfort,” says Masoud.
According to UNICEF, more than 19,000 children have been separated from their parents in Gaza in the past 11 months. And the children like Farah are growing in number.
“Many children who survive an attack go unclaimed,” according to a health worker.
PLIGHT OF ANOTHER INFANT
The story of 10-month old Mahmoud is similar to that of Farah. Maha Hamad, 25, is taking care of Mahmoud who lost his parents when he was only three-month old.
Mahmoud was born to Tarnim (Maha’s sister) in northern Gaza.
After fleeing their home in January, the family took refuge in Jabalia camp. The house they were staying in was bombed by Israelis. Mahmoud miraculously survived the strike, while his parents were killed.
Since then, Maha has taken it upon herself to care for her nephew Mahmoud.
“Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I can never provide him with what his mother would have given him. Children sense their mother's presence and calm down with her presence,” says Maha.
The loss of a child is every parent’s nightmare but in Gaza, it has become a haunting reality. It is happening again and again for the last one year.
A RUINED FAMILY
Khalil Khader picked up the dusty tattered clothes of his children from the debris of his destroyed house. He was instantly overtaken by memories of his family.
Khader lost 11 members of family in an Israeli airstrike. “Who will call me father now?” cries the lonely father in Gaza.
WOES OF ANOTHER FATHER
Another father who was registering the birth of his newborn twins in a hospital of Gaza, lost his children and his wife when Israeli planes bombarded that very hospital where he was bestowed upon with twins.
There are endless stories such as these in Gaza.
In homes reduced to ruins and in the streets where once children played… They are now marked by bomb craters and shattered glass.
Gaza is one of the most densely-populated areas on earth. The war in Gaza is quite different.
With no place to run and no safe refuge, the civilians find themselves trapped. It is rightly considered the biggest ‘open-air jail’ on earth where 2.5 million Palestinians have been incarcerated by Israeli authorities.
When airstrikes descend from the sky, the people of Gaza know there is nowhere to go. This feeling of helplessness is the deepest wound inflicted upon them.
A recent study reveals that every Palestinian is victim of traumatic stress disorder, which no ceasefire can truly heal. But the courage and resolve of Palestinians stand way above the flight of the Israeli planes.
“Whatever (the Israelis) have done, they never managed to kill our smiles,” says Abdul Mu’ti Abd Rabbu, a Palestinian film director. These words of Abdul Mu’ti depicts the resilience of the Gaza people who respond to Israeli atrocities with smile. For many smile is the only weapon amid the war of nerves.
SMILING CLOWN ARTISTS
Come to think of it, some clown artists in Gaza perform in makeshift shelters to make children smile.
“I hope the smile will remain on their faces forever,” says Saidi about the children of Gaza.
Saidi is a clown artist who performs for the children in Gaza. Saidi, along with his fellow artists and acrobats, tries to bring smile on the battle-wounded faces of Gaza and adjacent areas.
VIOLIN THERAPY
The world also saw a little girl holding violin in the tents of refugees in Gaza. Amid cries of anguish she shares melodies and brings smiles on the faces of the war-torn Palestinians.
WILL OF 10-YEAR-OLD RASHA
Recently, the Palestinian foreign ministry issued a statement on X on which it shared the will of a 10-year-old child which made everyone cry.
In her handwritten will, Rasha told her parents, “If I were martyred, please don’t cry for me because it hurts me when I see you cry.” IS ANYONE LISTENING?
Isn’t it enough for the world to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes?
No doubt, like any other state, Israel has the right to defend itself from violence from any group. But the question remains: At what cost?
The disproportionate killings are wiping out entire neighbourhoods just to target a few militants. It also calls into question the principles of warfare.
The grief of a father burying his daughter, the anguish of a mother searching for her son in the wreckage are not the collateral damages of war; these are human lives.
The world must confront this reality with the urgency it deserves. Every Palestinian child lost is not just a tragedy for Palestine; it is a loss for humanity.
What makes the situation even more unbearable is the fact that the siege on Gaza has left its people with no means to rebuild their lives.
Food, water, and medical supplies are scarce, and the infrastructure is crumbling under the weight of repeated assaults.
For the wounded, there are no hospitals left to treat them. For the hungry, there is no food to eat.
Gaza has become a prison for its people, a place where survival is the only goal, and even that is slipping away.