Now they smile as they play together in the sand at the al-Mawasi tent camp in southern Gaza, but the Masri family’s children survived the horrific events.
“Their lives were in danger, they were exposed to so much killing and destruction,” says their grandmother Kawther al-Masri.
An Israeli bomb strike six weeks ago hit their home in the northern town of Beit Lahia, killing the parents of one-year-old Jamal and the mother and two young sisters of his cousins Maria, Jana and Zeina, aged two to nine. Israeli forces arrested the girls’ father more than a year ago.
When pulling the children out of the ruins, they themselves were injured.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, more than 14,500 children have reportedly been killed, thousands injured, and an estimated 17,000 have been left unaccompanied or separated from family members who would otherwise care for them.
Some are too young to know their names and remain unidentified.
In a chaotic situation amid bombings and mass displacement, the UN’s children’s agency, Unicef, was able to reunite only 63 children with their parents or guardians. Last month, the BBC followed the story of the four cousins of Masri.
“The happiness of their return is indescribable, but it is overshadowed by sadness – they returned without parents,” Kawther al-Masri told us.
Initially, the news that reached Kawther in mid-November was that all her loved ones who remained in the family home in northern Gaza had been killed. But she says that after she prayed, news came to her that three of her grandchildren were still alive.
She knew immediately that she had to bring them to her. “I missed them,” she explains. – Honestly, I wanted to go to the North to get them, but God’s will is above all.
Israel has been dividing the northern third of the Gaza Strip from the southern two-thirds along the line of the Wadi Gaza valley for more than a year. Aid workers must perform special coordination to cross the Israeli military zone that cuts through the territory.
After Kawther gathered the documents she needed, Unicef carried out its own social screening and went through a painstaking process to arrange the relocation of Masri’s children.
While the four bereaved relatives underwent treatment, they were cared for by distant relatives. Unicef filmed their emotional farewell before taking the children away in armored vehicles.
The short distance from Gaza City to Deir al-Balah where the convoy was going now involves crossing an Israeli checkpoint, the drive is long and can be very risky as the war rages on. However, Unicef says it prioritizes reuniting children.
“The challenges are multiple,” says Rosalia Bollen, UNICEF spokeswoman. “But we’re talking about very vulnerable children here.”
“These are stories of loss – of deep mental trauma and physical trauma and the recovery of these children. The fact that they are reunited with one or both parents, or a family member, is extremely, extremely important.”
Kawther describes the agonizing wait for the day the children were due to arrive until Unicef finally called. She did not see her grandchildren for 14 months.
– I didn’t know who I would hug first! – she exclaims. “I hugged Džana first, and then Zejna. I kissed and hugged her.”
“My son’s children called me ‘Kuko’ and although Zeina couldn’t speak when I last saw her, she knew it was my nickname. She kept asking, ‘Are you Kuko? Are you the one I came here for? ?’ ‘ And I told her I did. She felt safe.”
The story of the Masri family is not uncommon. They were separated in the first days of the war.
A week after a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, the Israeli military ordered 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to move south, signaling that it plans to launch a ground invasion.
Kawther and most of her children quickly packed up and moved to Rafah, but transportation for her two sons, Ramadan and Hamza, failed. In the end, they stayed with their wives – one of whom was pregnant – and small children.
In November 2023, Hamza was arrested by Israeli forces in Beit Lahia. His close relatives claim that he and they are farmers without political affiliations. The BBC has been unable to obtain information from the Israeli authorities about what happened to Hamza.
Israel detained thousands of Gazans during the war, saying they were suspected of terrorism.
“This was our destiny,” Kawthar tells us desperately. We lost our homes, our land and our loved ones and were divided between North and South.
With so many people missing, many turn to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for help. He takes detailed information and checks it against sources he can access, such as hospital lists and the names of returned detainees.
More than 8,300 cases have been reported to the organization, but only about 2,100 have been closed. Of these, only a small number led to family reunification.
“People are in limbo – they don’t know if their family member is alive, if they are injured or in hospital, if they are trapped under the rubble or if they will ever see them again,” says Sarah Davies of the ICRC.
Doctors and hospital staff also play a role in trying to connect their patients with their loved ones.
Almost a year ago, the BBC filmed a newborn who was born by caesarean section after her mother was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Doctors named the girl “daughter of Hanna Abu Amsha” and kept information about her in the hope that her relatives could track her down.
We were recently told by the nursery at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir al-Balah that the baby was eventually handed over to the father and that he is doing well.
A few days after the Masri family was reunited, a local journalist working for the BBC visited Kawther and her grandchildren in the al-Mawasi displaced persons camp where they now live in a tent. With the lack of aid, Unicef helped them get additional food and medicine.
The girls also had warm jackets – some protection from the low temperatures that have led to the death of several babies from hypothermia, including at a camp on the coast, near the town of Khan Younis.
Although Kawther is relieved to have children with her, he still doesn’t feel they are safe. He worries about how to take care of them and their mental health.
“They are in shock,” she says. “As much as we try to distract the girls and avoid talking about the war, their minds wander every now and then.”
“When night falls, they are afraid. They say: ‘There’s a plane, there’s a strike.’ They ask me: ‘Is it dawn yet?’ and only when morning comes do they begin to feel safe.”
Kawther says she is desperate for a ceasefire and for her grandchildren to rebuild their lives. Don’t become part of the lost generation.
