JERUSALEM — The war in Gaza had barely begun when 9-year-old Khaled Joudeh suffered an unimaginable loss. His mother, father, older brother and younger sister, along with dozens of other family members, were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
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In the months that followed, Khaled tried to be brave, recalled his uncle, Mohammad Faris. He comforted his younger brother, Tamer, who, like Khaled, had survived the Oct. 22 attack that killed a total of 68 members of his extended family. Tamer, 7, was left with a broken back and leg. “He always calmed his brother when he cried,” Faris said.
At night, as Israeli airstrikes on Gaza resumed, Khaled would wake up shaking and screaming.
It was a short and terrifying existence for the young brothers that ended when another airstrike hit the house where they were sheltering on Jan. 9, killing Khaled, Tamer and four other relatives, family members said.
Her story encapsulates how the 10-month war in Gaza has taken an exceptional toll on children.
Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, the Israeli military launched the war with the stated goal of eradicating Hamas, unleashing one of the most intense aerial bombardments of the century on densely populated Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of taking advantage of Gaza’s urban terrain to provide its fighters and weapons infrastructure with an extra layer of protection, building tunnels beneath neighborhoods, firing rockets near homes and holding hostages in city centers.
Hamas denies the allegations and says its members live among the population.
International law experts have said Israel has a responsibility to protect civilians even if Hamas exploits them. The Israeli military says it takes “every possible precaution” to mitigate harm to civilians.
Of the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in the war, an estimated 15,000 were under the age of 18, Gaza health officials say. The United Nations estimates that at least 19,000 more children have been orphaned. And nearly a million children have been displaced, according to UNICEF.
“Gaza remains the most dangerous place in the world for children,” said UNICEF spokesperson Jonathan Crickx.
Most children live in overcrowded multi-family homes or in tents, with no running water or sanitation. Thousands are severely malnourished and at risk of starvation.
“There is no childhood in Gaza,” Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for the main UN agency helping Palestinians, UNRWA, wrote on social media last month.
For almost a month after their parents’ deaths, Khaled and Tamer stayed with their uncle, Faris, in another family building in Deir al-Balah. Occasionally, Khaled and Tamer would play in the rubble-strewn street. Then, on January 9, their short lives came to an end.
At around 2 a.m. an Israeli airstrike hit the house where they were taking shelter. Khaled and Tamer were killed, along with their 2-year-old cousin Nada, two uncles and their grandfather.
They were buried together in an unmarked grave.
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