Gaza Children Bear Burdens Beyond Their Years by Carrying Victims’ Bodies from Danger Zones
(AWP) - As the relentless horrors of war prematurely age them, Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip bear responsibilities beyond their years, to the extent that they carry bodies of victims from danger zones subjected to regular shelling.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the eyes of adults were fixed as they witnessed children carrying a deceased man to a donkey-drawn cart to take to the nearest hospital after finding the body dumped on the street with no ambulances in sight to take it.
A Palestinian child said, “We found the body of this martyr at the old Sanabel restaurant after a helicopter fired at him. There are a large number of martyrs near the Jawwal company and at the Wednesday market. Why won’t the ambulances move to transport the bodies of the martyrs? God is the best disposer of affairs against the Jews!”
Dozens of children gathered around the cart carrying the body of the victim, zealously chanting and unintentionally creating a scene reminiscent of solemn funerary processions by adults.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, the number killed in the Israeli attacks since October 7 has risen to 19,453 with 52,286 injured.