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Bombings in the Gaza Strip: “What are these children guilty of who have lost an arm or a leg?”, a doctor’s cry of despair to the young victims
Bombings in the Gaza Strip: “What are these children guilty of who have lost an arm or a leg?”, a doctor’s cry of despair to the young victims
(SPECIAL SUBJECT / FRANCE 2)
Hundreds of children damaged by the war and who were able to flee the Gaza Strip with their loved ones have found refuge in Qatar. In the shadows of the night, in the suburbs of Doha, the capital, Mahmoud, 9 years old, told his story to “Special Envoy”.
When night falls, the heat of Doha’s streets has eased a little. This is the moment when the wounded children of Gaza, whom Qatar evacuated with their loved ones, come out. Since the start of the war, 2,500 Palestinians who managed to flee the Gaza Strip have found refuge in the emirate, and among them, 2,000 are housed in a housing complex on the outskirts of its capital.
Mahmoud is 9 years old. The little boy lost both his arms on December 6, 2023. On that day, there was bombing by the Israeli army. “We were leaving the house, and we were hit by a Zanana missile (from the Arabic word meaning “buzzing”, this is the name Gazans give to drones). And when we were all outside, they bombed us.” he says. Mahmoud is the only one in his family to have been affected.
Very moved, an adult calls out to the “Special Envoy” team: he is a doctor. He was an intern at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. “When the army began its incursion and surrounded the hospital from all sides, corpses were everywhere on the ground, he testifies, still upset. I had to dig holes with my team to bury these men and women. I still get chills when I talk about it. I can’t forget that.”
“What did she do to the Israeli army? he exclaims, pointing to a little girl who has lost all the members of her family. What did all these children do who lost an arm or a leg? What are they guilty of? I want to ask the whole world: how many deaths? How many more people need to be killed? Stop the war, please. Immediately !”
Excerpt from “The Broken Children of Gaza”, a broadcast report in “Special Envoy(New window)” on September 26, 2024.
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