For two years, the relentless Israeli bombardment of Gaza has deepened the suffering of displaced Palestinian Inas Abu Maamar.
In the early days of the conflict, a Reuters photo captured Abu Maamar in a hospital morgue, holding the covered body of her five-year-old niece, Saly.
Since then, Israeli airstrikes and tank fire have claimed the lives of many of her close family members, leaving her grieving, hungry, and homeless, as she cares for her young orphaned nephew.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed a US President Donald Trump-led plan for Gaza, partially accepted by Hamas, but there is no assurance of its success in ending the war.
All past attempts to cease hostilities since Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, have failed.
Young niece killed in Israeli airstrike
Saly died when an Israeli missile struck her family home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. On October 17, 2023, Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem captured Abu Maamar holding her body at the Nasser Hospital morgue in Khan Younis.
The attack also killed Abu Maamar’s aunt, uncle, sister-in-law, cousins, and Saly’s baby sister Seba. This summer, her father and brother Ramez, Saly’s father, were killed while fetching food for the family.
They are among over 67,000 Palestinians reportedly killed by Israel’s attacks in Gaza, with many more feared dead under the rubble and uncounted officially.
“The war has destroyed us. Our family, our homes shattered. It left a void in our hearts,” said the 38-year-old Abu Maamar.
Israel’s offensive was retaliation for an attack two years ago, when Hamas militants breached Gaza’s border, killing around 1,200 and taking 250 hostages.
Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to continue the fight until Hamas is destroyed, intensifying military campaigns into northern Gaza City.
The Israeli military claims to avoid civilian casualties, targeting Hamas where militants operate, accusing them of using civilians as shields. Hamas denies this.
Struggles in crowded tent camps
Abu Maamar and her remaining family have repeatedly fled Israeli bombings and ground assaults, now residing in a crowded tent camp on the bare sand near the beach.
Living conditions are dire. Illness is rampant. Food and clean water are scant. Bombardments instill fear in the traumatized population.
Her primary concern is her nephew Ahmed, son of Ramez and Saly’s brother.
Inas Abu Maamar plays with nephew Ahmed, Saly’s brother, at their tent, displaced from their home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 30, 2025. Photo: Reuters
After losing his mother, sisters, and maternal grandparents early in the conflict, Ahmed’s father and paternal grandfather were killed in June while retrieving food, Abu Maamar said.
“His father would take him out, play with him, take him to the beach, visit aunts,” she said of Ahmed.
“His life has drastically changed. He’s confined to the tent every day,” she said.
Following his father’s death, Ahmed bonded with a cat named Loz, which died in August, Abu Maamar shared.
Fears the war won’t end soon
A year ago, Abu Maamar told Reuters she awaited “an end to the bloodshed.” She still waits, fearing that unless Trump pressures Israel more, peace efforts will fail.
“We’ve lost enough. So many loved ones are gone. We left with them, and will return without them,” she said on Sunday.
“I only fear the war continuing. We don’t want it to persist. We want it to end permanently.”
