At Gaza funeral, lost dreams and condemnation of U.S. and Arab states

By Hatem Khaled

As Areej al-Qadi tearfully kissed the bodies of her three young children killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza, another mourner lashed out at the United States and Arab leaders for not ending the war.

Gazans attending one funeral after another after more than a year of devastating conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas feel abandoned and angry that their pleas for help have gone largely unanswered.

Qadi said her son Abdul Aziz, 7, killed along with his brother Hamza, 5 and sister Laila, 3, while they played outside in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, had wanted to be an astronaut.

"He said to me 'I hope a rocket comes and I can go to the moon'. He didn't realise that the rocket would come and tear him up into pieces," she said.

Israel says it goes to great lengths to protect civilians and accuses Hamas of using them as human shields. Hamas denies that and accuses Israel of indiscriminate bombing, charges Israel, in turn, denies.

The United States and other countries have sent aid to Gaza and tried to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants they regard as terrorists while maintaining military support for a far-right Israeli government that ignores many of their calls for restraint.

"What right does America have, talking about democracy, justice and equality? said displaced mourner Ra'fat al-Shaer. "Also a message to the Arab world, to the heads of the Arab nations. How long will this continue?"

Arab states have not backed their own calls for an end to the suffering of fellow-Muslims with any threats to end diplomatic agreements with Israel despite the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.

Hamas militants triggered the latest Gaza war when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 from the enclave beseiged by Israeli forces since the Islamist group took power in 2007. The gunmen killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military response has killed more than 44,000 people and turned Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated places, into a wasteland of crushed cement and twisted metal.

People like Mahmoud Bin Hassan al-Thalatha, the father of the three children he said were killed along with other innocent people on a bustling street, say their only recourse is prayer.

"My children were martyred, the people walking were martyred, and the stall vendor was martyred while he was sitting down, they were all martyred. May God have mercy on them."