International Children s Day Gaza children talk about who and what they lost

The children of Gaza lost so much during the two-year war. Many were killed, others lost limbs and loved ones, and were left without a provider, forced to survive alone or shoulder burdens beyond their years. As the world commemorates Universal Children’s Day, our correspondent in Gaza spoke with several children in the devastated city, who shared their stories of loss, their dreams, and their hopes for a better future.

Palestinian girl Haya Arafat, 16, lost her entire family. Standing beside her destroyed home, she reminisces about the warmth of her memories and life there. “My family is under these rubble,” she says. “My mother, my father, my siblings, my grandmother and grandfather, my uncle and his wife and their children. I pray to God that we can rescue them. We couldn’t during the war, and I hope we can now.”

Life is difficult without a mother, father, and siblings, Haya says. “It’s hard to go on living without them, but I will continue living for them, to bring them happiness in this life and the hereafter, God willing.”