Arabic version: عيد الأم في غزة يعكس الحزن والفقدان

While much of the Middle East celebrated Mother’s Day with flowers and gifts this weekend, in Gaza, the occasion served as a painful reminder of precious lives lost. According to Al Jazeera, Em Rami Dawwas, sitting in her tent in Gaza City, remembered the three sons she lost in Israeli attacks, two of whose bodies are still being withheld by the authorities.

Dawwas expressed her sorrow, stating, “I miss my sons on Mother’s Day. They used to bring me gifts, flowers, sweets, and ask me about my needs. They were the light of my life.” She keeps the photos of her sons under her pillow, looking at them daily to keep their memory alive.

Many mothers in Gaza spent the day at graveyards, seeking a connection with their deceased children. The impact of the ongoing conflict has been devastating, particularly for children, with UNICEF estimating that 64,000 children have been killed and wounded in Israeli attacks since the war began in October 2023.

Maram Ahmed faced a second Mother’s Day without her mother, who was a victim of an Israeli air attack that claimed her entire family. The 14-year-old shared her grief, recalling how she would buy her mother small gifts to make her happy. “I feel so sad when I see other children with their mothers, but I don’t show it,” she said.

A recent report by Amnesty International highlighted the severe consequences women and girls have faced during the war, including mass displacement and the collapse of healthcare services. Since the October 2025 ceasefire, Israeli attacks have reportedly killed more than 650 Palestinians, many of whom are women and children, contributing to a staggering total of more than 72,000 lives lost since the start of the war.