'Where is my water? I am thirsty,' child's desire under rubble of collapsed building in Gaza shakes souls

By Mustafa Deveci

ANKARA (AA) – "Where is my water? I am thirsty," a boy stuck under the rubble of a collapsed building in Gaza with dust from concrete all over his body said as soon as he saw rescuers around him to help save his life.

That spontaneous and extremely unsettling desire of a child victim of Israeli bombardment and brutality in northern Gaza was captured by many cameras as rescuers approached him and spoke to him before pulling him from the rubble of a collapsed building.

"I had my wallet with me. I have 300 shekels in it to buy a bike," the seemingly 10-year-old child's desire was soul-shaking, and despite having roughly 80% of his body buried under the rubble, his video clip went viral on various social media platforms.

Palestinian search and rescue teams dug through the debris by hand, working tirelessly to save the boy, who had difficulty breathing with most of his body under the rubble.

Later, the boy was rescued as a result of intensive efforts of the rescue teams.

The boy, who had blood and cuts on his face, head, and back, told the rescuers, "Thanks Allah for saving my life."

The Palestinian boy asked the teams to look for his wallet in the debris.

To boost morale, a member of the search and rescue team said to the Palestinian child, "Should we feed you dinner now?"

The Palestinian child, whose joy was captured on camera as he was pulled from the rubble, was placed on a stretcher and transported for a health check.

The brave child's desire explains the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip and what the Palestinians want the international community to do.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Palestinian territories since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 32,000 Palestinians have since been killed and some 75,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Muhammed Yasin Gungor in Istanbul