Shattered rooms show Gaza war toll on kids

GAZA CITY: The latest Gaza war is over, but its wreckage still liters the purple bedroom of 9-year-old Shrouq Al Masri and her 4-year-old sister, Razan.

- Bel Trew

Their toys are coated with gray dust, the ceiling is bent and buckled, and the cracks in the walls slice through the cartoons that decorated them.

The two girls survived the early morning airstrike that destroyed a nearby building on May 19, two days before a ceasefire ended the war. But like so many children in Gaza, they will carry the memory of its horrors and devastation.

The 11-day war was the fourth fought between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that has ruled Gaza since 2007. It featured the same waves of predawn Israeli airstrikes, the same continuous rocket fire out of the impoverished territory, and the same lopsided casualty toll, with Palestinians making up the vast majority of the more than 250 killed.

And like the others, it took a heavy toll on children. At least 66 Palestinian children were killed. Countless more were awakened in the night by explosions.

In the Maghazi refugee camp in southern Gaza, an airstrike tore the roof off the bedroom that 4-year-old Anas Alhajahmed shared with his sister and let the floor covered in shattered glass. They survived as well.

It was the first war in his short life, but most Gazans vividly recall the others — including the most devastating, in 2014, which lasted several weeks. Even adolescents can point out homes destroyed in previous rounds of fighting.

Both sides say they have no choice, and no one expects this war to be the last. Meanwhile, the intractable conflict takes its toll on those with the least capacity to understand its cruel logic.