HEART-WRENCHING: Why are Gaza children writing names on bodies amid Israeli carpet-bombing?

Children in Gaza have resorted to writing their names on their bodies as a grim means of ensuring proper identification in case they die in an Israeli attack.

This practice has become increasingly common, particularly when Palestinian civilians who are dead or wounded arrive at hospitals throughout Gaza.

The origins of this phenomenon can be traced back to the war itself, but it gained prominence as hundreds of bodies became unidentifiable due to the severe injuries they sustained. Many of these bodies were either mutilated or decapitated, with a tragic example being the nearly 500 Palestinians killed at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on October 17.

Inside Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical centre, a group of children from the Abu Sab’h family can be seen diligently writing their names on various parts of their bodies. This morbid precaution is taken in the hope that it will facilitate proper burials in case they fall victim to Israeli airstrikes.

Ahmed Abu Sab’h, the father of these children, explained their reasoning, saying, "We write our names and the names of our children on our wrists, so that our corpses may be identified if Israeli warplanes hit us."

Following the attack on Al-Ahli Hospital, hundreds of children in Al-Shifa Hospital adopted this distressing practice. Israel had threatened to bomb Al-Shifa and other medical facilities if they failed to evacuate all individuals inside.

Despite the immense danger, Palestinian hospitals refused to evacuate patients, as no alternative locations were available. Furthermore, disconnecting patients from life-saving machines would result in numerous deaths. This dire situation has left displaced Palestinians with the stark reality that "life is the exception, death is the norm."

Since October 7, the ongoing conflict has led to the death of over 3,800 Palestinians, with more than 13,000 sustaining injuries. According to United Nations reports, approximately 70% of all the dead and wounded are women and children, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the violence on the most vulnerable members of the population.