My daughter Kiraz is still living in a state of horrific shock because of what happened right before her eyes yesterday. It is a scene that will never be erased from her memory, and a terror that will continue to haunt her even after the explosions stop. The explosion was only a few meters away from us. In a matter of seconds, everything turned upside down. Dust and smoke engulfed the area, shrapnel flew all around us, and everything turned into a terrifying scene, as if death had surrounded us from every direction. The blast was so deafening and powerful that it was unbearable. Kiraz’s eardrums were ruptured, and blood began flowing from her ears, while we struggled to comprehend what had happened and desperately tried to survive. From yesterday until this very moment, my daughter has been unable to sleep. Her heart is still racing with fear, and she is still experiencing the same terror, as if the explosion were happening before her eyes over and over again. Kiraz is just a little girl who should have been sleeping peacefully in her father’s arms, not trembling in fear of death. She should have been living her childhood in safety, not witnessing death with her own eyes and hearing an explosion that nearly destroyed both her life and her father’s in a single moment. I do not know how to explain to my little girl what happened, or how to reassure her that she is safe when I cannot even guarantee that we will survive the next explosion. We miraculously survived yesterday, but the terror Kiraz experienced did not end when the explosion stopped. Its effects still linger in her little body, robbing her of sleep and stealing away her sense of safety. What crime has my little girl committed to be forced to face death at such a young age? Why must my daughter learn the meaning of terror before she ever gets to experience the meaning of safety? To this very moment, we do not know how we survived certain death. All I know is that I was only a few meters away from losing my daughter, and the thought that I nearly lost her in a single moment will haunt me for the rest of my life.

A body wrapped in gauze Blood silently flows whenever the pain intensifies Outside, a merciless war rages, while a thin cotton tent offers no protection from the winter cold or the summer heat. Rodents surround it, along with water so contaminated that it is unfit even for tears, let alone drinking This is the story of little Rima, who suffers from a rare skin disease that has turned her delicate body into a map of pain On top of the cruelty of her rare illness, the harsh realities of war in Gaza have cast their dark shadow over her life, denying her even the most basic rights to a normal childhood or access to the medical care she needs to preserve what remains of her innocent life Rima is suffering and her tiny body can no longer endure any more pain. She understands nothing about the complexities of politics. All she knows is that she is hurting There are no treatments available in Gaza Our children are in danger