Performing on stage brought Ahmed Abo El Khair immense joy. Ever since he was 10, he had been passionate about dabke, the Palestinian folk dance recognised by Unesco as an intangible cultural heritage.
Ahmed was a proud and active member of a dabke troupe in Gaza, performing regularly in public. But after being shot in the head while collecting aid at a distribution centre, he was forced off the stage and into a hospital bed.
The university student, 20, who was known and loved for his bubbly personality, now lies helpless and frail, staring into the ceiling, almost in disbelief at his current state.
The smile on his face and spark in his eyes have vanished. His visible ribs are a testament to his malnutrition. Without proper food and medical treatment, Ahmed cannot recover, his family says. After weeks of near-total starvation, all that remains of him is skin and bones.
“Doctors tell us Ahmed needs proper nutrition to recover, and for his memory to get better, as he has some memory loss, but what can I feed him when there's no food?", his mother, Rana Abo El Khair, told The National.
The young Gazan had ventured to an aid centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Netzarim to secure food for his family, when he was shot in the head. With deteriorating health centres, the bullet remains lodged in his skull, causing a fracture and internal bleeding.
The GHF has faced global criticism and condemnation for its food delivery system. Since May, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of the GHF sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys, the UN said last week.
He had made the perilous trip in desperation, amid severe food shortages in the enclave. Aid organisations, human rights groups and a global hunger monitor have warned of mass starvation and famine spreading in Gaza, forcing Palestinians to risk their lives for the smallest amounts of food.
Although Ahmed miraculously survived, his condition has deteriorated under Israel’s blockade of Gaza. His life has been turned upside down.
“Every passing day, his situation gets worse,” his father, Iyad Abo El Khair, told The National.
At least 193 people have now died of starvation – 96 of them children – under Israel's blockade of the coastal territory, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. International efforts have included food being dropped from the air and aid supplies from the UAE and Jordan, but starvation is increasingly being used as a weapon of war in Gaza, according to the UN. The agency's secretary general Antonio Guterres has described the search for food in the enclave as a “death sentence”.
“He loved food the most, he loved kaak and maftoul [Palestinian food], and he told me to prepare these foods for him once he got back from the aid centre,” Ahmed's mother said.
Instead, his mother received a call at 3am to say her son had been injured.
Ahmed was immediately admitted into the intensive care unit and later taken into surgery. Gaza's health sector has been significantly crippled by Israeli attacks and bombardment. UN reports have detailed Israel's deliberate and widespread attacking of Gaza's medical sector and medical staff.
“It was shocking to see my son like this, I have no words to describe it,” his mother said.
Despite his circumstances, Ahmed has one word on his lips at all times: “Alhamdulillah', or thank God, his sister, Doha Abo El Khair, told The National.
“Ahmed loved his life, he was happy, he was content, but he also had plans to travel and study abroad after working hard in school,” his sister said. “But now his future has gone to waste because of his situation,” she added.
