We met Amal  in 2012, in Gaza, when she was 11-years-old.

Three years earlier, during Israel’s offensive in 2009, soldiers ordered over 100 members her extended family into one house. A day later, the residence was hit by Israeli artillery shells and live ammunition. Twenty-seven family members were killed, including 11 children and six women, and 35 others were injured.

Amal was left with permanent sharpnel injuries and trauma.

❝I remember my brother and father and how they were killed in every moment… we were a happy family. Now I don’t feel happy anymore,❞ she told us.

❝For one year we lived with the parents of my mother... Then we lived in a storage room for a year and a half. It didn’t have a floor. For the last six months, we have been living where our old house used to be...

❝I want to have another doctor look at my situation, and to try everything possible to end my pain. I wish to travel not for amusement, but for medical treatment.

❝When I have a lot of pain I become nervous and angry. When I am sad I go to my aunt’s house to see my cousins, or I prepare my books for school…

❝Before the war I excelled in school. Now my scores are not so good anymore.❞