He just wanted to fix his shoes
Soha Hamdona The Electronic Intifada 29 August 2024
The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on 20 August.
Hadi Daoud APA imagesOn 3 August at 7 pm, Israeli occupation forces struck al-Hamama and al-Huda schools in Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
Seventeen people were killed and more than 60 were injured.
Those martyred and injured are not just numbers.
An hour before the bombings, struggling with famine and difficult living conditions in the north, Ahmed Nayef Ayish, 16, the brother of a close friend of mine, had asked his sister Jumana if he could go to the tailor to get a torn shoe fixed since he couldn’t afford a new one.
The tailor was next to al-Hamama School.
This is life in Gaza.
The call came soon after the bombing. Ahmed had been injured. He had sustained fractures to his rib cage and shoulder. He had shrapnel wounds all over his body. One piece was lodged in his neck and head.
He was first listed in unstable condition at the Baptist Hospital.
Then he fell into a coma.
On the morning of 6 August, we received the news that Ahmed had passed.
Every day in Gaza is like this. Every day, someone we love is murdered.
What was 16-year-old Ahmed’s fault?
What was the fault of his friend who accompanied him and who was also martyred?
I will never forget you, Ahmed. No matter how much time passes, I will bring the voice of northern Gaza to the whole world and tell everyone how the Israeli occupation killed you.
You were just a child. You did not carry any weapons, just your own shoes to have them fixed.
At a tailor’s shop next to a school.
Rest in peace, little one.
Soha Hamdona is a writer from Gaza.