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In the heart of war-ravaged Gaza City, inside the charred remains of what was once his home, 11-year-old Samir Zaqot lies motionless on a thin mattress. The air is stifling, the summer heat pressing down on his frail frame as his parents fan him with whatever they can find. His right hand is gone. His left foot is gone. His small body is riddled with injuries—open wounds, deep scars, and the invisible weight of trauma no child should endure.
Samir’s life changed forever when, according to his account, an Israeli drone strike exploded directly inside his bedroom. “I woke up in al-Shifa hospital 12 hours later,” he recalls quietly. “That’s when I realised I had lost an arm and a leg. I also had a fracture in my skull, shrapnel in my back and stomach, and wounds on my abdomen.”
Before the war, Samir was an energetic boy who dreamed of becoming a doctor. He spent his days playing football in the street with friends, scribbling drawings in his school notebook, and imagining a future where he would help others heal. Now, he is confined to bed, his childhood replaced by pain, dependency, and uncertainty.
“I had dreamed of becoming a doctor and treating patients and children,” he says, his voice breaking. “Now I can’t even hold a pen to write, or run to play with my friends. My family takes care of me. I just want prosthetics so I can learn, play, go to school, and live without needing help for everything.”
His mother, Duaa, is desperate. She watches her son’s condition deteriorate with each passing day. “He still has injuries in his stomach, holes in his colon, and nerve damage in his other arm from shrapnel. His back injuries are severe, and his skull fracture causes him constant headaches,” she explains. “He is in constant pain. We have received no assistance from any organisation. I’m pleading with the world—please, help him get treatment abroad.”
Samir’s story is far from unique. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), an average of 10 children in Gaza lose one or both legs every single day. Many suffer additional, complex injuries requiring advanced medical care—care that is nearly impossible to access in the besieged enclave, where hospitals are under relentless strain, medical supplies are scarce, and most specialists have fled or been killed.
The war in Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking more than 200 hostages. In response, Israel began an intensive military campaign across Gaza. As of this writing, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports that at least 61,722 Palestinians have been killed and 154,525 injured—a staggering number that includes tens of thousands of children.
For Samir, survival is now a day-by-day battle—not just against his injuries, but against a future that feels increasingly out of reach. Still, he holds on to a sliver of hope. “If I can get prosthetics,” he says, “I can go back to school. I can study again. Maybe I can still be a doctor one day.”
His wish is simple: a chance to heal, a chance to learn, and a chance to live like a child again. In Gaza, that is a dream that feels both painfully close and impossibly far.
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