The child Wafaa: The martyr whose joy was not fulfilled on the first days of school

On the first day of the school year in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian nine-year-old Wafa Youssef Aqila’s joy at returning to the classroom turned to tragedy when she was martyred alongside her father, Youssef Aqila, 36, following an Israeli occupation airstrike that targeted a civilian vehicle in Gaza City on Sunday evening. Wafa had resumed her studies on Sunday, like thousands of other children in the Gaza Strip who are striving to continue their education despite extremely difficult humanitarian and security conditions, before her first school day ended with her martyrdom alongside her father.

Images and video clips circulating on social media showed Wafa’s school belongings at the site of the strike, with her books and stationery scattered around the vehicle, in a scene where the tools of her childhood were mingled with the aftermath of the bombardment. Wafa’s backpack, books, and school supplies, which were supposed to accompany her throughout a new school year, were reduced to scattered remnants at the strike site, encapsulating in a single image a facet of the suffering endured by Gaza’s children, who are trying to hold on to their right to education and life amid the war and its repercussions.

Since the war in Gaza erupted in October 2023, children have paid a heavy price, with many killed, injured, displaced, or separated from their families, in addition to a large number being deprived of their right to education and a safe life. According to data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 21,283 children have been killed as a result of the war, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the total casualties. Among them, around 19,000 were school students, while more than 44,000 children have been injured, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.