Gaza’s Children Live in Pain and Fear Amid Continued Israeli Attacks

Gaza City, Palestine – Seven-year-old Hala Lubbad lies in a hospital bed at al-Shifa Hospital, her small body bearing severe wounds. “Where is my mother? Where is my father?” she asks repeatedly, but no one answers.

Hala’s father, a 42-year-old police officer; her mother, a 40-year-old teacher; and her siblings, aged 10 and 17, were killed in the early hours of June 2 when an Israeli attack struck the family home in Gaza City, causing a fire. Her aunt, 28-year-old Haneen Lubbad, now caring for Hala, recounts: “Everyone was sleeping. Hala was there and is the sole survivor along with her 16-year-old brother, Mohammed. The rest are gone.”

Nearly two weeks later, Hala – who suffered severe burns in the fire – still does not fully understand what happened, holding only fragmented memories. Doctors and psychologists advise the family to be cautious in telling her the truth about her parents’ and siblings’ deaths. “If she hears it all at once, she could collapse,” Aunt Haneen says. Yet the truth seeps in day by day. “Hala asks about them every day, cries constantly, wants to see her mother and father. She wants to look at their photos and doesn’t understand why they no longer visit her.”

Hala has undergone several surgeries, but doctors warn she needs urgent treatment abroad to prevent further tissue damage that could lead to the loss of her fingers. “Hala urgently needs medical, psychological, and rehabilitation treatment outside the Gaza Strip. Before, she was a normal child, laughing, playing, full of life. Now she is caught between pain and fear, her body exhausted, her mental state even worse,” adds Aunt Haneen.

17,000 Children Orphaned

Hala is just one of thousands of children who survived Israeli attacks but now face a brutal reality. According to UN estimates, 17,000 children have been orphaned or separated from their parents or caregivers since Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza began in October 2023. This includes children who lost both parents and those who are the sole survivors of their families. Psychologists warn these children are at risk of severe trauma, anxiety, depression, and loss of family identity during a critical developmental stage.

In total, at least 21,289 Palestinian children have been killed and 44,500 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to UNICEF. The suffering did not stop after a ceasefire was declared in October 2025, as Israel has continuously violated the agreement with near-daily attacks, killing over 1,000 Palestinians. UNICEF recorded at least 60 boys and 40 girls killed in just the first three months of the “ceasefire” – an average of one child per day – but the actual number may be higher. Hundreds more have been wounded.

‘What Will Be Left of His Life?’

Israeli attacks have also left thousands of children with permanent disabilities. The UN and humanitarian organizations report that Gaza now has the world’s highest per capita rate of child amputees. Two-month-old Mohammed al-Khatib is one of them. He lost his left leg and suffered multiple wounds across his tiny body after an attack on al-Mawasi on May 25 that killed his mother while she was breastfeeding him. “I’m still in shock,” his father, Ahmed al-Khatib, says tearfully as he sits beside his son at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. After a long spell of crying, the baby finally drifted off to sleep.

Ahmed also speaks of his 2.5-year-old son, Adam, who is writhing in pain from missing his mother: “He cries all the time, looks around, searches among faces and in tight corners, calling ‘Mommy… Mommy.’ My heart is shattered. What is the fault of these children? What is my wife’s fault?” He divides his time between his two sons, relying on their grandmother for help, trying to soothe Adam’s grief. “I tell him his mother is in heaven, but he is too young to understand permanent loss. He insists on going to find her.”

Recalling the moment of the attack, Ahmed says his wife had taken their newborn son to a nearby family tent to breastfeed. An Israeli airstrike hit immediately after. “I ran over and saw no tent. When I arrived, I found my wife covered in blood, clutching the baby tightly. I pulled Mohammed from underneath her; his body was trembling violently from severe trauma, and I saw that his left leg was severed.” Since that day, Mohammed has been hospitalized, undergoing multiple surgeries to save his life and prevent further amputations. Health officials warn that delays in evacuating severely injured children – especially those with burns, limb injuries, and spinal trauma – for treatment could cost them the chance of recovery. “Every day my son goes through a new surgery. The doctors say his arm is also at risk of amputation. He’s just two months old – how many operations can he endure? He will grow up without a mother, without a leg, and possibly without an arm. What will be left of his life?” Ahmed says, choking back tears.