Gaza Father's Heartbreaking Denial: Pleading with Son Killed in Israeli Strike
In a scene of profound grief at Shifa Hospital in Gaza, a bereaved father knelt over his dead son, desperately willing the teenager back to life. The emotional turmoil unfolded on Saturday as Yusuf Zawara confronted the loss of his 15-year-old son, Mohammad, who was killed alongside his 13-year-old cousin in what relatives describe as an Israeli military strike.
Father's Desperate Pleas in Hospital Morgue
Covered in dust with blood staining his clothes, Zawara refused to accept the reality before him. "He's sleeping. He'll wake up now. There's nothing wrong with him. He's fine," the distraught father insisted as he cleaned his son's face in the hospital morgue. "I'm just cleaning his face. He's sleepy. He didn't sleep all night because of the bombing."
The father's denial manifested in heartbreaking actions as he patted his son's face, wiped away blood with his fingertip, and rocked the boy's head gently. His pleas grew more urgent: "Get up!" he demanded, before shifting to scolding tones. "They hit you with a missile. You couldn't escape? Run. People, run! Why didn't you run away?"
Contested Circumstances of the Tragedy
According to hospital officials and family members, the two boys were searching for firewood when they were killed. A relative, Arafat al-Zawara, told The Associated Press that the incident occurred approximately 500 meters from what Israel's military has designated as the "Yellow Line" separating Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza. "They were targeted directly, not through any fault of their own," al-Zawara stated.
Israel's military offered a conflicting account, denying that children were among those killed. Military officials claimed they had targeted several militants who allegedly crossed the territory's "yellow line" and planted explosives that threatened troops.
Winter Crisis Compounds Gaza's Suffering
The tragedy occurs against a backdrop of severe winter conditions in Gaza, where temperatures have dropped below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) at night with storms blowing in from the Mediterranean. The territory has been without central electricity since the early days of the conflict, forcing most residents to shelter from the cold in tents or bombed-out buildings.
Gaza's Health Ministry, which maintains casualty records generally considered reliable by UN agencies and independent experts, reports that at least nine children have died from severe cold in recent weeks. The ministry also states that over 480 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began on October 10th in the ongoing conflict.
Broader Context of the Ongoing Conflict
The current war was sparked by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. While Israel disputes the casualty figures provided by Gaza's Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-led government, Israeli authorities have not presented alternative statistics. The emotional scene at Shifa Hospital represents just one of countless personal tragedies unfolding in the territory as the conflict continues to claim lives and devastate families.
As Zawara finally bent over his son, cheek to cheek in a moment of exhausted surrender, he turned his attention to his nephew. Reaching for the 13-year-old, he shook him while making a heartbreaking appeal: "Sulaiman, get up so we can get some wings and grill them! Get up, get up, get up, my nephew! Come on, get up, why are you dying?!" The father's desperate attempts to reverse reality underscore the profound human cost of the ongoing violence in Gaza.
