There is an inherent vulnerability in motherhood, a delicate balance of strength and love. But nothing is more harrowing than the absence of a mother—an irreplaceable void that magnifies the grief of loss. In Gaza, this pain is an everyday reality, as families are torn apart, bidding final farewells to mothers lost forever in the unrelenting violence.

One particularly haunting image lingers: a young man, alone before the closed door of a morgue in Gaza. His cries echo in the dark, pleading with his lifeless mother to answer. A video circulating on social media captures his anguish as he calls, “Mom, answer me! Why aren’t you moving? Why did you leave?” His voice, trembling with grief, embodies the raw, unfiltered pain of a people enduring unimaginable loss.

This devastating scene is not isolated. Weeks ago, another young man, wounded yet refusing to let go, whispered his final goodbye to his mother, “Goodbye, Mama. Goodbye, my fragrant jasmine.” Such moments are seared into Gaza’s collective memory—a relentless series of heartbreaks met with international indifference and regional inaction.

Paramedic Abdel Aziz Al-Bardini faced his own tragedy two months ago in Al-Maghazi, Gaza. Rushing to the scene of an airstrike, he found himself carrying the body of a woman to an ambulance, focusing on rescuing others. He later discovered, to his horror, that the lifeless figure he had transported was his own mother. “Mom, I didn’t recognize you. I swear I didn’t recognize you,” he cried out in disbelief, grappling with the merciless reality of war.

The statistics deepen the sorrow. UN estimates from May reveal that 56% of those killed in Gaza by Israeli bombardments are women and children. Civil Defense reports from August show that 2 to 8 out of every 10 martyrs’ bodies bear severe deformities due to intense shelling and collapsing buildings. The rising percentage of women and children among the dead reflects the indiscriminate targeting of homes, schools, and shelters without warning.

These numbers, while staggering, cannot capture the depth of individual grief—the shattered lives, the empty spaces left behind, and the cries of loved ones echoing through Gaza’s endless nights. Mothers, the backbone of families, are being torn away, leaving behind a generation burdened by loss yet clinging to the hope of justice and peace.