Dana Salem, a young girl from Gaza, hides her amputated hand behind her small body, ashamed to face the curious looks of other children. Once a bright student with dreams of excelling in school, Dana’s life was shattered by an Israeli airstrike that killed over 200 members of her family, including her parents and siblings. She was the sole survivor, left with a severed hand and a heart heavy with grief.  

“I’m ashamed in front of the little kids, so I always cover my hand because it’s amputated,” Dana says softly. Her voice carries the weight of unimaginable loss. “I lost my siblings, my father’s and mother’s family. I’m tired of life. I just want to see my family again.”  

Dana recalls the day of the massacre, waking up screaming as rescuers pulled her from the rubble. “I was afraid I would lose my hand, and I really did,” she says. “When they amputated it, I screamed and kept asking: Where is my hand? Where is my hand?”  

Despite her pain, Dana clings to fragments of hope. “I want to grow up and bring back my siblings, my hand, and my mother. I want to return to my school, be the top student in my class, and depend on my hand,” she says.  

Dana is not alone in her suffering. Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has claimed the lives of 17,818 children, including 238 newborns, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Over 800,000 students have been deprived of their right to education, their schools destroyed or rendered inaccessible.  

For Dana, losing her hand was more than a physical injury—it was the loss of her dreams and the future she once imagined. Her story is a stark reminder of the countless children in Gaza who have lost their families, their homes, and their childhoods to the brutality of war.  

As Dana sits in silence, staring into the void, her quiet resilience speaks volumes about the enduring spirit of Gaza’s children, even as they bear the unbearable weight of war.