I’m Mohammed Aljbour, 29 years old.
I was only twelve when I witnessed the first war on Gaza in 2008. It lasted 22 days. Back then, I didn’t understand anything — only fear, terror, and the endless sound of bombing that still echoes in my ears.
When I was sixteen, I witnessed the second war in 2012, which lasted seven days. That was when I began to understand what was happening around us — to truly feel the fear that surrounded every home.
At eighteen, in 2014, I had just finished my high school exams, and soon after, the third war began. It lasted 49 days — the most horrific and devastating of them all. The bombing never stopped; fear was everywhere.
At twenty-five, I witnessed the 2021 war, which lasted 11 days. By then, everything started to feel “normal,” as if war had simply become part of daily life in Gaza.
Then came 2023 — the longest and deadliest war, a war of annihilation. I was 27 years old, newly married for only 85 days. We lived through fear, displacement, and death every single day. Each night, we said our goodbyes, not knowing if we’d see the morning.
In July 2024, my daughter Rafif came into this world — a small light amid all this darkness.
Today, she is 15 months and 13 days old, and she too has known fear, hunger, and pain.
We have endured the unbearable. I’ve held on to hope only for her — for my daughter and my family.
But I don’t want Rafif to grow up in the same life her father did — a life of wars, fear, destruction, and betrayal.
To the world:
Look at us… help us… Gaza cannot bear any more.