GAZA — Rajaa left her mobile phone after watching a series of videos showing the bodies of unidentified Palestinian children, and took a thick pen and wrote their full names on her children's stomachs "so that they would not be unknown," she says.
Raja Mohammed, a mother of 3 children – explains to Al Jazeera Net the motives for resorting to this method and says, "I found myself forced to write their names on their bodies in light of the deliberate occupation targeting civilians, children and women, no one is immune."
The mother chose her children's bellies to be a place to write their names, because "the parties are the first thing that the rocket probably breaks up," according to her statement.
They wrote their names on their feet, so that when they were martyred they would not say "unidentified martyr."
Imagine what it feels like for a child in Gaza and his family to write his name on his body in preparation for this moment... pic.twitter.com/FxrViLDick
— Radwan Al-Akhras (@rdooan) October 22, 2023
Routine act
Telling the children the importance of writing their IDs on their bodies was not easy for Raja, but the pictures of the shrouds with the words "Anonymous" on them were even more terrifying, so I told them that this is a routine act carried out by mothers in Gaza to guard against discrimination in case of raids, and for people to recognize them and meet again, especially after the occupation bombed their house located in the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, west of Gaza City.
For his part, Saleh al-Jafarawi, a permanent activist at Al-Shifa Central Hospital – told Al Jazeera Net – that he saw a number of children arrived at the hospital, and their names or identity numbers or phone numbers to communicate were written on their hands and bodies, which actually facilitated their identification.
He added, "Within one minute, dozens of martyrs can pour into the hospital, and the bodies are mixed and nothing is known, and some children cannot pronounce their name because of their extreme fear or because of their young age."
Pictures of Mrs. Raja Mohammed's children with their names written on their stomachs so that they would not be "identified" corpses (Al Jazeera)
No body protected
While many see the usefulness of writing names on bodies, some mothers see that they do not have the ability to do so with their belief in its importance, says Ruba Al-Ajrami – Al Jazeera Net – that the fear of mothers of losing their children pushes them to think illogical sometimes without regard to the psychological dimension of this issue.
Although she had the idea repeatedly, she did not have the ability to confront her children with it, and Ruba continues, "There is no place in the body that is protected from rockets that melt the flesh and turn it into pieces, as shown in the videos."
Ruba is surprised by the global silence on the massacres committed by the Israeli occupation against children and women, stressing, "We do not expect support from anyone, but I ask the mothers of the world to teach their children how Palestinians pay with their lives to defend the dignity and sanctities of Muslims."
Mass graves of the unknown
The bodies of unidentified people were buried in mass graves after being killed in ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Health Ashraf ability – Al Jazeera Net – that this step comes in light of the accumulation of dozens of martyrs who could not be identified during the past days, pointing to the presence of 83 unidentified bodies abuzz with refrigerator martyrs in the hospital Shifa, while still flock dozens of martyrs daily of infants, women, men, and the elderly.
The competent authorities photograph the victims and document their distinctive signs, so that families who have lost some of their members can check on them later.
When the mothers of the world prepare their children for a good night's sleep, the mother in Gaza prepares her children to gather with them in one grave and prepare them to receive martyrdom and eternal sleep where there is no fear, no injustice and no Israel.