Palestinian children write names on their skin for identification if killed by Israel

Children in the Gaza Strip have started writing their names, surnames and ages on their skin for the purpose of identification in case they are killed during the Israeli occupation’s non-stop bombing of the enclave.

Video footage circulated on social media showing Palestinian children in the Strip writing their names on their arms, legs and abdominal areas to be identified. The video also showed parents writing their children's names on their bodies.

I watched my youngest daughter coloring her book, then I watched these children in Gaza writing their names on their arms so they can be identified in case they die in the next Israeli airstrike. I wept. Something about seeing the stolen humanity of these Palestinian children… pic.twitter.com/xWQ76vC3nw

— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman504) October 22, 2023

Forty-three unidentified bodies were buried in a mass grave on October 21 because there are no spaces in morgues to be kept until being identified, announced Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila in a statement on Sunday. 

🇮🇱🇵🇸 Children in Gaza are now having their names written in their skin to simplify their identification in case they are killed in a an ISRAELI BOMBING.

Follow @stairwayto3dom (source)
pic.twitter.com/c83uPwGUln

— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) October 21, 2023

On October 15, Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab Al-Louh said in a press conference that 40 dead bodies of children and women remained unidentified in Al-Quds hospital.

As of October 22, the number of children killed by the Israeli aggression rose to 1,903 children since the outbreak of the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Violence escalated between the Palestinians and Israelis on October 7, when Palestinian fighters from Hamas launched an unprecedented military operation, called Tufan Al-Aqsa (Al-Aqsa Flood), against Israeli settlers and soldiers in the occupied settlements near the Gaza Strip. The military operation is an attempt to end Israel’s violations against Palestinians, who have been deprived of their rights to their lands, and to put an end to the Israeli siege against Gazan residents and violations against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In response, Israel has since launched hundreds of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing 4,473 people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and injuring more than 15,400 others. Meanwhile, the escalation of violence resulted in the killing of 1,400 Israelis and 3,400 others injured.