#JEHAD AL SHRAFII

[drsonnet]

Gaza Strip.  “Ibrahim is 12. He was hit by a tank shell in the school where they were displaced. He lost his right hand.

He is a child like any other child. A child who wants to play. A child with an amputated hand… who wants to play.

This is the first war I experienced as a photojournalist. I am 22 years old, passionate about environmental and humanitarian work. I was born and raised in Gaza, but the last two years I lived in Jerusalem and Ramallah and would only visit Gaza occasionally. I used to move around, and life was good. I did not expect to experience something like this in my life.

As a human being, I live in war and as a journalist, I cover the war. The feeling of fear always dominates us because there is nothing to protect us, neither as a human being nor as a journalist.

I always imagine that if I were in a country other than the one I live in, someone my age would be in college or volunteering, and he would still be at the beginning of his life. He would think about love, about life, about how to be happy, but what happened to us has made us much older than our age.

I mean, our biggest dreams have become just to sleep in our house or return home.”

JEHAD AL SHRAFII @JEHAD_ALSHRAFI