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In September last year, an Israeli air strike on central Gaza killed Yazan Tutah's mother, father and two siblings.
Yazan, aged three, spent nearly a month fighting for his life in a hospital bed, unaware that he had lost all the people closest to him. Today he lives under the care of his grandmother, Ramziya Tutah, 67, who returned to Gaza city earlier this year during the two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The child's story is heart-breakingly common in Gaza. Official figures show more than 5,000 families have only one surviving member after a year-and-a-half of war that has devastated the territory.
Although Yazan and his grandmother have found shelter again, the home they returned to feels empty. The real battle for Yazan is not his recovery from physical wounds, but from the psychological trauma of losing his family.
Since the deadly strike last year, Yazan has been locked in a silent struggle with grief and confusion. Despite the tireless efforts of his grandmother and maternal uncles to ease his pain and encourage him to play with other children, Yazan remains deeply withdrawn.
"He always asks about his parents and brothers," Ms Tutah tells The National, her voice breaking. "At night, he often wakes up crying, calling for his mother. Sometimes he screams and sobs for a long time before he falls asleep again."
Yazan requires psychological support, a rare resource in Gaza with much of the enclave's healthcare and social services destroyed.
"When the ceasefire happened, we hoped there would be more attention to children like Yazan," Ms Tutah said. "But the ceasefire didn’t last."
After the war resumed last month with renewed Israeli strikes, Yazan’s condition worsened. Every time he hears an explosion, he begins to ask for his family again, Ms Tutah adds.
"According to our official governmental statistics, there are 5,070 Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip from which only one surviving member remains,” Ismail Al Thawabteh, director of Gaza's government media office, tells The National.
“These surviving individuals urgently need special care, ongoing psychological support and attention to help them overcome the deep crises they are experiencing due to immense loss and pain. However, unfortunately, the necessary resources to provide such support are currently unavailable due to the lack of sufficient personnel and the closure of the crossings by the occupation, which has prevented medical delegations from entering Gaza."
He says sole surviving family members represent "a tragedy that embodies the worst outcomes and consequences of this genocide".
“Most of those categorised as sole survivors are children, which only deepens the crisis they face as children, by nature, already require special care, let alone after losing their mother, father and entire family," he says.
“Many sole survivors are living through an even greater tragedy because several members of their families are still trapped under the rubble to this day, their bodies not yet retrieved, honoured or buried.”
Mahmoud Sukkar, 17, is among the children hit hardest by the war. In October last year, an Israeli strike on northern Gaza killed 17 of his family members.
"My family was bombed while I was outside the house," he tells The National. "Afterwards, I stayed briefly with my uncle. Then we had to flee to the south. I ended up living alone in a tent in Al Mawasi – those were the hardest moments of my life."
Even months later, Mahmoud struggles to grasp the enormity of his loss. "It still feels like a dream," he says. "I can’t comprehend living without my family, they filled my life with love and warmth. They were all gone in the blink of an eye, without having done anything wrong.
“When I first received the news, I was outside the house. A friend tried to soften the blow, telling me some were injured, some had been martyred and some were still alive. But when I arrived at the hospital, I found that they had all been martyred. That moment marked the beginning of the harshest and most painful chapter of my life.”
Mahmoud says a sole surviving family member is "not a normal human being". "He has lost the most precious people in his life and no one can replace that," he adds. "No one can ease the loneliness or carry the weight of his pain."
Civilians account for more than half of the 52,300 people killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023. More 18,000 children and 12,400 women have been killed and more than 2,180 families wiped out, according to figures released on Sunday by the government media office.
The death toll includes more than 1,400 doctors and healthcare personnel, 113 civil defence members, 212 journalists and more than 750 humanitarian workers. More than 13,000 students, 800 teachers and 150 academics and university professors have been killed, the statistics show.
“The destruction is so widespread and systematic that it points unmistakably to a deliberate strategy of targeting civilians and critical life-sustaining sectors, in what human rights groups describe as acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing,” the government media office says.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The biog
Place of birth: Kalba
Family: Mother of eight children and has 10 grandchildren
Favourite traditional dish: Al Harees, a slow cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken
Favourite book: My early life by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah
Favourite quote: By Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father, “Those who have no past will have no present or future.”
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Notable cricketers and political careers
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- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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MATCH INFO
Day 1 at Mount Maunganui
England 241-4
Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28
New Zealand
Yet to bat
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