At dawn on May 9, brothers Ahmed and Mohammed Miqdad set out from the shores of Al-Shati Refugee Camp, embarking on what they hoped would be a routine day of fishing to feed their families. By 6:30 a.m., their simple boat, just a means of survival in a world of constant threats, was targeted by Israeli gunships. Three shells struck, ripping apart the boat and the lives of two brothers. Ahmed, just 27, was killed instantly. Mohammed, 32, was left fighting for his life, gravely injured.

Standing at the shore, their brother Ayoub watches the horizon, still hoping the sea will return Ahmed’s body. "One of the shells hit him directly—his body was torn apart," Ayoub said, his voice breaking with sorrow. “We’re still searching for him. No grave, no shroud—just the sea, wrapping him in salt and sorrow.”

Ahmed’s death leaves behind a widow and two children who will never know their father. The youngest, just three months old, will grow up with nothing but a photograph to remember the man who gave his life to feed them. Mohammed, now in critical condition at the barely functional Al-Shifa Medical Complex, is clinging to life, his body riddled with shrapnel.

But the tragedy doesn’t end at the sea. The Miqdad family, once living in a four-story home in Al-Shati, now sleeps in makeshift tents near the ruins of their house. "We returned to find it gone," Ayoub said, pointing to the pile of rubble. "Now we live beside it, waiting for a reconstruction that may never come." Their fishing boat, their only source of income, was destroyed in the attack, taking with it the livelihood of four families. “Now, we have nothing,” Ayoub said, his voice heavy with defeat.

Since the war began in October 2023, Gaza has been under an unforgiving maritime siege. Thousands of fishermen have been cut off from the sea, their livelihoods shattered. Around 150 fishermen have been killed, 50 of them while trying to provide for their families. The fishing community in Gaza is disappearing, leaving behind the broken dreams of those who once relied on the sea.

Ahmed Miqdad is no longer just another casualty of war. He is a symbol of Gaza’s shrinking space for survival. What once sustained him and his family has now become a grave, a silent witness to the occupation’s devastating reach.