Remembering the Bakr Boys

Two years ago, four young boys were killed whilst playing on a beach in Gaza.

They were four of of the 556 children killed during the assault on Gaza, or ‘Operation Protective Edge’.

The four boy, Zakaria (aged 10), Mohamed (aged 11), Ismail (aged 9) and Ahed (aged 9), left behind a devastated family, who continue to struggle with the loss of their precious sons.

The event was witnessed by foreign journalists, and the captured images of their small broken bodies on the beach remain a shocking reminder of the cost of violence and occupation.

Many people have paid tribute to these children, who were just trying to play on their beach, through art and poetry. We are once again sharing this poem by Aisha Mirza, which reminds us that children in Gaza are all too familiar with bombs and violence, and how no where in Gaza was safe for children in 2014.