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Gaza City, Palestine – Seven-year-old Hala Lubbad lies in her bed in al-Shifa hospital, her small body weighed down by her injuries.
Where is my mother? he repeats, without answering.
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The child’s 42-year-old policeman father and 40-year-old mother, a teacher, along with his two brothers aged 10 and 17 – were killed in the early hours of June 2 when Israeli airstrikes hit the family home in Gaza City and set it on fire.
The Palestinian girl’s aunt, Haneen Lubbad, who now cares for her, says it happened when everyone was sleeping.
“Hala was among them… she was the only survivor, along with her brother Mohammed, 16,” says Haneen. “The rest are gone,” adds the 28-year-old, tears filling his eyes.
Almost two weeks later, Hala, who was badly burned in the fire, still does not understand what happened, her memories scattered.
Speaking quietly, Haneen says doctors and psychologists have advised the family to be careful by telling her that her parents and siblings are no longer alive. “If he hears everything at once, he may faint,” he adds.
But the truth still slips through the cracks of everyday life.
“He asks about them every day,” says Haneen. “She cries continuously, and says: ‘I want my mother, I want my father, I want to talk to them. She wants their pictures… she keeps asking why she doesn’t visit him anymore,'” adds the aunt.
Hala has undergone several surgeries since arriving at the hospital, but doctors warn she may have to go abroad to avoid complications and the loss of fingers due to muscle damage.
“Hala needs medical and psychological treatment, as well as immediate rehabilitation outside the Strip,” Haneen says.
“He was a normal kid, he loved to laugh and play … full of life,” she adds. “Now he is between pain and fear. His body is tired… and his mind is getting worse.”
17,000 children have become orphans
Hala is just one of thousands of children who have survived Israeli attacks only to face horror.
According to United Nations estimates, 17,000 children have been orphaned or separated from their parents or guardians since Israel’s war against Palestinians in Gaza began in October 2023. They include children who lost both parents and others who are the only survivors of entire families.
Psychologists warn that they face increased risks of serious trauma, anxiety, depression and loss of security and family identity during the most difficult period of development.
In total, at least 21,289 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza since the war began, and another 44,500 have been injured, according to the UN children’s agency UNICEF.
The suffering did not stop with the announcement of a “ceasefire” last October, as Israel maintains breach of contract and almost daily violence that has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since then.
According to UNICEF, at least 60 boys and 40 girls were killed in the first three months of “ceasing the war” alone – about one child per day – but the real number could be higher. Hundreds of others were injured.
‘What will be left of his life?’
The Israeli occupation has also left thousands of children with disabilities. The UN and aid agencies say Gaza now has the highest number of child amputations in the world.
Two-month-old Mohammed al-Khatib is one of them.
The child’s left leg was amputated and he has several wounds on his small body after the Israeli attack on al-Mawasi that also killed his mother while she was breastfeeding on May 25.
“I would have been scared,” said his father, Ahmed al-Khatib, through tears as he sat next to his son who had been crying for hours at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Ahmed’s grief seems to deepen when he talks about his other son, two-and-a-half-year-old Adam, who is struggling to cope with his mother’s absence.
“She cries all the time … she looks around, searches between faces and tight corners, shouts, ‘Mummy … Mummy’,” Ahmed says, his voice breaking.
“I feel like my heart is breaking for her… what’s wrong with them? What happened? What was wrong with my wife?”
Now the father divides his time between his two children, with the help of their grandmother, repeatedly trying to comfort Adam’s depression.
“I try to tell him that his mother has gone to heaven, but he is a small child who does not know what it means to be absent all the time … he insists that he wants to go to her.”
Ahmed remembers the moment when everything changed. His wife took their baby and took him to the nearby tent of his family to raise him there. After some time, the attack on Israel happened.
He said: “I ran to where the tent was, and I couldn’t find it. “When I got there, I saw my wife wet with blood, carrying her child. I took Mohammed under him… his body was shaking from the severity of the injury…
Since that day, Mohammed has remained in the hospital, undergoing several operations to save his life and prevent further amputations.
Even though children like her suffer from amputations and injuries, access to help is still very limited.
Health officials warn that delaying the transfer of seriously injured children, especially those with severe burns, leg injuries and spinal cord injuries, could mean losing any chance of recovery or rehabilitation.
“Every day he has a new surgery,” Ahmed says of his son. “Doctors say his arm can be amputated. A two-month-old baby? How can he survive?” he asks.
“This child will grow up without a mother, and may grow up without a leg, maybe even without an arm.”
