BTN News: In the intense summer heat of Gaza, the body of a young Palestinian boy lay lifeless and cold. Outside the hospital, his father clung to the small corpse, unwilling or unable to say goodbye. Flies hovered around, landing gently on the boy’s soft hair.
“What did he do wrong, my God? What did he do wrong?” cried Mahmoud Mikdad, his voice hoarse as he looked skyward in anguish.
Yaman, Mahmoud’s son, was a victim of an Israeli airstrike. Israeli bombings killed over 60 Palestinians in southern and central Gaza between Monday night and Tuesday, according to hospital records and health authorities. Israel claims it is targeting Hamas fighters who hide among the civilian population after its offensives disabled underground tunnel networks.
For Mikdad, it had been a typical afternoon. He had put his daughter and Yaman down for a nap in their apartment, where the displaced family sought refuge. The attack instantly killed Yaman, who had not yet reached his second birthday.
Mikdad carried Yaman’s body from Nuseirat camp in central Gaza to the Martyrs of Al Aqsa Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah. Yaman’s bare legs hung lifelessly beneath a blood-soaked white sheet.
Outside the morgue, Mikdad and two other individuals, one with a bandaged head, caressed and kissed the child’s body. Mikdad told an Associated Press photographer that the boy in his arms was “more precious than the entire world.” He sat against the hospital wall for a while, weeping.
Later, a dozen men recited a funeral prayer over Yaman’s body, wrapped in a white shroud. Passersby, including some children, watched in silence.
This tragic scene underscores the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where innocent lives are lost amid the violence. Yaman’s story is a poignant reminder of the human cost of war and the profound grief it leaves behind.
