Mothers in Gaza are marking Mother's Day with tears and grief, mourning the loss of their children in the ongoing war with Israel. Em Rami Dawwas, a mother who lost three sons in Israeli attacks, remembered the joy her children brought her on this day.
She sat in her tent in Gaza City, surrounded by boxes of her sons' clothes, which she cannot bring herself to throw away. Dawwas said, "I miss my sons on Mother's Day. They used to bring me gifts, flowers, sweets, and ask me about my needs. They were the light of my life."
Palestinian children have borne the brunt of Israel's war on Gaza, with UNICEF estimating that 64,000 children have been killed and wounded in Israeli attacks since October 2023. Authorities confirmed that the war has had a devastating impact on the civilian population.
War's Toll on Civilians
Many mothers spend the day in graveyards, sitting in the only place they can feel close to their dead children. Maram Ahmed, a 14-year-old girl, faced a second Mother's Day without her mother, who she lost in an Israeli air attack that killed her entire family.
Ahmed said, "On Mother's Day, even if I didn’t have money, I would buy my mum a gift from my allowance, even if it was for less than a dollar. I just wanted to make her happy." She added, "I feel so sad when I see other children with their mothers, but I don’t show it."
A report by Amnesty International highlighted the "brutal price" women and girls have paid during the war. The report cited ongoing mass displacement, the collapse of reproductive, maternal and neonatal healthcare, and profound physical and mental harm faced by women.
Since the October 2025 ceasefire, Israeli attacks have killed more than 650 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to recent figures from the Ministry of Health. Overall, Israeli attacks have killed more than 72,000 people since the start of the war.
Source: Al Jazeera
