Like countless others in the North of Gaza, my relative Abu Faris struggled to provide food for his family during the harshest days of starvation. Despite being a teacher at UN schools, his salary, combined with the modest savings he had set aside before the war, was not enough to keep his family fed. He had a large family to care for, his deprived children and four older sisters who depended on him. The weight of their hunger gnawed at his soul, keeping him awake night after night as he searched for a way to ease their suffering.
The only thing he had left was a bag of rice he had carefully stored away for the hardest of times. It became their lifeline. They rationed every handful of it, stretching it as far as they could. Each day, they would have only one serving of rice.
Haneen, his youngest daughter, would sometimes cry in the night, her tiny voice trembling from starvation as she pleaded, “I am hungry, Baba.” Her cries pierced his heart like a dagger. He would sit in silence, staring at the floor, consumed by helplessness. Watching her suffer felt like a punishment he didn’t deserve.
Desperation gripped the entire family. Abu Faris often saw people chasing after humanitarian aid trucks, risking everything for a sack of flour to sustain their families. His two eldest sons, Ahmed and Mohamed, grew restless. They couldn’t bear to see their siblings crying for a loaf of bread. One evening, they approached their father, their voices hesitant but resolute, and asked if they could go after the trucks as well.
But Abu Faris’s answer was firm. His sons would not go, what if something happened to them? Their hunger may be painful, but losing them is worse.unbearable.”
Yet, the lingering emptiness in their home and the sight of Haneen’s hollow cheeks wore them down. On April 10, 2024, despite their father’s warnings, Mohamed and Ahmed followed a group of young men who were trailing an aid truck. They didn’t tell anyone.
Mohamed knew his father would be angry, but he couldn’t watch his family starve. He understood the danger of going after an aid truck looking for food, but the need was greater than the fear.
The brothers ventured out with hope in their hearts and, miraculously, each returned home with a bag of flour. Their joy was immeasurable. Mohamed sprinted back, eager to surprise his little sister, Haneen.
When they entered the house, the family burst into tears, relieved and grateful. Abu Faris, though initially angry at his sons, couldn’t hide his delight.
The family wanted to celebrate their achievement by baking bread. However, they didn’t have enough wood to make a fire. The next morning, Abu Faris and his son Mohamed set out to gather wood from a nearby piece of land the family-owned. Israeli Occupation Forces had uprooted the trees on the land during a military invasion of their neighborhood in December of 2023, but there was wood scattered around.
When the men arrived, they heard drones buzzing overhead. They became tense. Abu Faris wanted to leave. Mohamed told his father that he'd pick some mint and follow. Abu Faris agreed to wait for his son at the entrance of the street.
When Mohamed reached the spot where he had agreed to meet with his father, he found Abu Faris lying on the ground, covered in blood. An Israeli drone had struck him while he was waiting for his son. The family was eagerly awaiting Abu Faris and Mohamed’s return to finally enjoy the bread they had longed for after months of scarcity. But he was taken from them while on the brink of desperation. His death came just as his family had begun to hope for a moment of reprieve.
