2015 BBC Interview With Syed - Blog Posts

2015 BBC Interview With 12-year-old Boy After Israeli Snipers Shoot Children On Gaza Beach

Here is an important example of what life was like for the children of Gaza before October 7.

In a 2015 BBC interview, Syed shared his experience:

Syed's life was shattered on the day the 12-year-old, his 11-year-old brother Mohamed, and their six cousins went to Gaza's beach to play football.

It was the natural playground for young boys from a family of fishermen which has lived off the sea for generations.

"We didn't know that beach was dangerous," says Syed

His eyes still, round, sad pools, as he remembers 16 July, one of the most harrowing days of the war.

By the end of that day, Mohamed and three of his cousins were dead. An Israeli investigation said its air force mistook the children for Hamas fighters when a pilot fired twice at a "compound" next to the beach.

Syed and the three other boys who survived still show small scars on their legs and disturbing signs of being severely traumatised.

"For the son I lost, my tears will never dry," says his mother. But she fears she lost two sons last summer.

"Those left behind are lost like those who died," she laments, as she looks across their small one-bedroom home at Syed, who stares blankly into the distance.

Syed finds it hard to sleep, and too tough to go to school because it reminds him of his brother. Even the sea, which had been a constant reference point in his life, no longer feels safe. "I never used to get scared, but now I do," he tells me as we ride in a speed boat close to the shore and he fiddles nervously with the cords of his life jacket.

ID: via The Slow Factory Access