Gaza: Among the thousands of heartbreaking images that have emerged from Israel's war on Gaza, one image gained special attention when it landed on the front page of the New York Times in June 2024. It was of 9-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost both of his arms in an Israeli air strike.
The haunting image taken by Palestinian journalist Samar Abu Elouf captured the depth of suffering of one boy, amid the countless Palestinian children killed, maimed, and orphaned by Israel's ongoing war on the Strip.
According to the United Nations and the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Gaza now has the highest number of amputees per capita anywhere in the world. Since the onset of the conflict, more than 11,000 people have undergone amputations—over 5,000 of them children.
Al Majalla met with several child amputees living in tattered camps on the outskirts of Gaza City and in the few remaining field hospitals. This is their story, as their lives now unfold in a constrained, improvised existence shaped by missing limbs and filled with memories of their once-whole bodies.
'Life has shrunk from his eyes'
Nine-year-old Hamed Abu Sel gazes at the space where his right hand used to be—the hand that once held his pens and toys. Sometimes, he instinctively raises it, as he always did, only to find that it is no longer there. “It feels lighter than I expected. That’s when I remember—it’s gone.”
Hamed, who once dreamed of becoming a surgeon, recounts the night that changed everything. He was asleep when the neighbouring house was bombed, and the roof of his room collapsed on top of him. His family survived, but he lost his right hand. “It was the most precious thing I had,” he says quietly. “That hand held my future.”
With Israel controlling who and what gets in and out of Gaza, Hamed hasn't been able to get the physiotherapy and prosthetic limb that he needs. He tries to forget and adapt, but every day, he’s confronted with irreversible change. “I hate using my left hand. I loved my right—it was strong, it was beautiful.”
Hamed's mother says her son is suffering from depression. “He isolates himself. He sits in the tent all day, refuses to play, and speaks about death. Life has shrunk from his eyes.” Her voice breaks: “I cry every day. He didn’t deserve this."
'She cries herself to sleep'
What began as an ordinary day in Jabalia Camp became a nightmare for 11-year-old Laila Al-Barbari. She had been playing with her friends in the courtyard when a missile strike caused part of the roof and wall to collapse. Her four friends were killed. Laila survived but bled for two hours before undergoing an emergency leg amputation—performed without anaesthetic due to a severe shortage of medical supplies.
She is now bound by a wheelchair, which she describes as "yet another prison". Ashamed to ask for help to use the bathroom, she often cries herself to sleep. Her mother explains: “She draws birds without wings. Once, she drew a bird without a head. I asked her why, and she said: ‘That’s me. They killed me.”
