Gaza’s orphans have lost everything – even the dream of growing up
The number of children killed in Gaza, according to the local health ministry, recently rose above 15,000.
Fatality figures in Gaza are disputed by Israel, but even allowing for miscalculation or exaggeration, it is a staggering loss of life.
Many children have been orphaned, losing not just both parents but also siblings, grandparents and other close relatives too.
Against this tragedy, the children of Gaza can’t dream of growing up.
War has robbed them of that.
‘I just want to forget’
The children of Gaza have spent a year and a half under Israeli bombardment
“I’m here hanging out with my friends because I just want to forget the war,” Osama says, surrounded by other young boys, probably no older than 10.
“I look at my destroyed home there and think about the memories I had there with my mum and dad, in their room. And now it’s gone.
“We used to have fun every day, sit in the kitchen, play together at home, and now it’s all gone.
“I want to forget everything. I want to have fun.”
Israel continues to bombard Gaza
On Thursday, Egypt sent a delegation to Qatar in an attempt to push for a renewed ceasefire.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior security officials on Thursday night to discuss developments.
For now, Israel is continuing to attack Gaza daily and is refusing to lift a blockade on aid entering the Strip.
The United Nations has reported that cases of malnutrition among children in northern Gaza have almost doubled as a result.
Hundreds of children have also been killed since the resumption of attacks almost two weeks ago.
She danced until the war came home
Five-year-old Jenin liked to dance, like so many five-year-old girls around the world liked to dance.
She danced in the tent where her family was sheltering from the war nearby and she danced until the day that the war came home.
Five-year-old Jenin liked to dance
It was early in the morning when the missile struck – the family was getting ready for Suhoor, the Ramadan breakfast.
Twenty-five of Jenin’s relatives were killed, including her father and all of her brothers and sisters.
Her mother was already dead, killed in a previous strike.
Jenin now lies in a hospital bed, still unaware she has lost her family.
Jenin is now mostly unconscious and in desperate need of surgery she cannot get in Gaza
She is mostly unconscious – her skull fractured, she has bleeding on her brain and is in desperate need of surgery she cannot get in Gaza.
“She’s truly lost all sense of safety. She’s terrified by anyone who comes near her,” Jenin’s aunt told Sky News.
“Jenin has lost the ability to speak. The shock was so severe that she can no longer communicate verbally.”
She went on: “Instead, she points and gestures, but words elude her. Most of the time, she is angry and throws things around; her emotional state is drained.
“Sometimes she responds, but other times she doesn’t. When she looks at us, there’s a visible frustration in her eyes -frustration from not being able to see her mum.”
The aftermath of the strike that killed 25 members of Jenin’s family
Another family that didn’t survive the night
In Gaza City, our team filmed another family that didn’t survive the night.
Rescuers searched for survivors but pulled out the bodies of four people.
Twelve-year-old Sameer was the only one to escape the strike. He sobbed in silent prayer next to the wrapped corpses of his parents and siblings. Another orphan in Gaza.
Sameer was the only one to escape the strike that killed his entire family
Sameer at his family’s funeral
“One of my favourite memories with my family was a day at the beach,” he told us.
“We swam and played and had such a good time. I remember my brother walking back and spilling juice on himself. We laughed and told him off!”
Read more:
What happened to Israel-Hamas ceasefire?
Anti-Hamas chants heard at rare protest in Gaza
His family was buried together, side-by-side in a shallow grave. Sameer, the one who lived, watched on, silent and lost.
“I wasn’t scared before, because I had my family around me. Right now, I am scared to lose more people. My mum and dad and everyone were martyred. I’m worried about losing more people. So now whenever I hear the planes above, I think they’re going to bomb me in my home.”
Sameer returned to the ruins of his home and found his school books
There is no word for someone who has lost so much.
But in Gaza, there are so many children who have lost everything.
Their childhood, their families, their future.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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