At just seven years old, Mohammed Hijazi's world was plunged into darkness — not by fate, but by a brutal legacy of war. On 25 March 2025, while playing near his partially destroyed home in Beit Lahia, the young boy unknowingly picked up a piece of Israeli military debris left buried in the rubble. It exploded in his hands, shattering his childhood and damaging both of his eyes.
Before the blast, Mohammed was a joyful spirit, darting through the ruined streets near Kamal Adwan Hospital with his friends. Today, he lies in a hospital bed, blinded and broken, waiting anxiously at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. His right eye has been removed, and his left clings to a fragile hope — a hope that depends on urgent medical treatment abroad.
"It was just like any other day," his father recalls, voice cracking with grief. "He was playing outside, not knowing a deadly remnant of war was waiting in the dust. The sound of the explosion still echoes in my ears. We found him lying there, covered in blood — eyes lifeless, face torn."
Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals tried their best. But with medical resources depleted after months of relentless bombardment, they could only do so much. The family moved him from Kamal Adwan to the Indonesian Hospital, and then to Al-Nasr Eye Hospital in Gaza City, hoping to preserve at least part of his sight.
"He asks every day, ‘When will I see again?’ And I have no answer," his father says. "He used to run and laugh with his friends. Now he lies still, eyes closed, trapped in darkness. What did he do to deserve this?"
Mohammed’s story is not an isolated tragedy. Since October 2023, thousands of unexploded Israeli munitions have turned northern Gaza into a deadly trap for returning families. Children, like Mohammed, face unimaginable dangers simply by walking outside.
And yet, even in despair, Mohammed clings to hope. To every visitor, he repeats one dream: “God willing, I’ll travel and see again.”
His father’s plea to the world is simple, and shattering:
"Save Gaza’s children. They are innocent. My only wish is for my son to live in peace — and to see, even if it’s only with one eye."
