The war in Gaza had not yet begun when Mohammed Hamdona welcomed his daughter into the world.
Afaf, one, spent what little of her childhood she could have spent in the coastal enclave playing with construction sets and electronic toys. She was happy.
‘Our life before the war was peaceful, although difficult, but stable,’ her father tells Metro.co.uk.
‘We tried to create beautiful conditions for ourselves and our children.’
For Mohammed, the last few months haven’t come as much of a surprise. He knew what life his daughter would lead in Palestine.
‘To be Palestinian is to be a people who suffer from oppression and are deprived of even the most basic rights,’ he says, ‘where even the most necessary conditions for life, as established by international humanitarian law, are not provided.’
Gaza, where nearly half the population is under 18, has been engulfed in war for well over 300 days. Since the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza, the Israeli military has fired guns, launched rockets and dropped bombs with the aim of eradicating the Strip’s ruling party.
But this has come at staggering human cost. Israeli forces have killed more than 40,500 people in the enclave since October 7, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Researchers from the Lancet journal, however, say the death toll could exceed 186,000.
One in 50 children living in the Strip have been killed or injured, Save the Children says. This amounts to 2% of Gaza’s child population, or nearly 26,000 youngsters. At least 19,000 children have been orphaned.
Mohammed, fearing his children were next, fled with them to Cairo, Egypt, after 150 days of war.
‘My children are the best thing that has ever happened to me, may God protect them,’ he says. ‘I dreamed of a stable life, a beautiful home, and a future full of dreams and knowledge.
‘Our life has become difficult and the lives of my children are difficult because of the war and the struggle for survival.’
Mohammed’s daughter Afaf isn’t alone. Tasnim Nasr Al-Wahid gave birth to her son, Ishan Ahmed Al Boraie, just three months ago. ‘Right now, we don’t even have the bare necessities for life, neither for me nor for him,’ she says.
‘I had planned and dreamed together with his father to create his own world for him, but unfortunately, all our dreams were shattered and replaced by fear, terror, and death.’
Some 60 miles away in Qalqilya, a city in the occupied West Bank, watching the devastation in Gaza has taken its toll on six-year-old Miral. Her father Malik says they try to pretend it is all a game, something easier said than done.
How can I donate toys?
Here’s how you can get involved with Circle of Toys, a programme that lets people give and receive toys across the world:
1. Sign Up
Simply click the “SEND A TOY” button, which will guide you to our parent platform, Circle.
2. Fill out the form
Taking just a moment of your time, please complete the form.
3. Choose a request
Browse and select one or more requests you’d like to fulfill. Once approved, you’ll receive the shipping details for the toy.
4. Ship the toy
Once everything is settled, you’re good to send the toy!
Follow Metro on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news
Metro’s on Whatsapp! Join our community for breaking news and juicy stories.
‘Her name means “little dear”. She already had beautiful gazelle eyes,’ Malik says. ‘She is six and a half years old, intelligent, precise and very smart.
‘Because of the war that we are experiencing in our region, she has become afraid of loneliness. She clings to me wherever I am, so the least I can do to make her forget the frightening reality is a game.’
Mohammed, Tasnim and Malik have all signed up for Circle of Toys, a British charity initiative that connects people who want to donate toys to children. The gift-giving scheme aims to give kids a sense of normalcy during times of upheaval, from natural disasters to conflict.
But while the charity receives donations from almost 7,000 people from more than 20 countries, this is barely enough to meet the 30,000 active toy requests worldwide.
‘My child and I left the war zone in Palestine and now live in Egypt,’ says Walaa, who fled with her son Adam to Cairo. ‘We dream of any toy.’
‘My child, Zakariya, had a PlayStation in Gaza but our house was destroyed by the endless war and great tragedies,’ adds Islam Z. K. in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.
Zakariya, ‘sad, alone and in need of warm hugs’, loved to play video games. ‘The occupation and war deprived us of his little game,’ Islam says.
Yousef Abdalhadi, now living in the Al Rehab district of Cairo, says his child needs a game too.
‘A game is urgently needed that can help a child cope with the loss of their sister,’ Yousef says. ‘Tala was a wonderful child who played in the city of Gaza with her sister Lina.
‘Lina was killed and Tala escaped. Tala hopes to find friends who can make up for the loss of her sister and friends in Gaza.’
Playing with toys can make a huge difference for children. Toys contribute to the development of cognitive, emotional and linguistic skills, as well as provide stress relief, researchers have found.
‘All children deserve a childhood,’ Arthur Corvin-Powells, founder of Circle of Toys, says. He tells Metro the charity was established to address the ‘stupid reality’ that tens of millions of toys are discarded every year in the West.
‘The further removed from childhood we become, the more we forget its amplified colours, smells, sounds,’ he continues. ‘When you are little, everything is bigger: pleasure, pain. During war, there is trauma, loss of education, and displacement – the damage is immeasurable.
‘When you are little, you seem weaker; you hurt bigger. The hurt and the violence can become internalised as a means of conflict resolution. It is too big and too loud.’
In war, imagination is all children often have, says Corvin-Powells, which makes playtime all the more important.
‘Toys are the door into that vast world of fantasy, where the darkness of stress and anxiety can shrink and disappear in the light of adventure,’ he says.
‘Even in Gaza, kids manage to hold on to their childhood. Makeshift toys, old socks rolled into footballs, humanitarian toy donations — the children of Gaza make the most of it, but they need more.’
Mohammed, who lives in the West Bank city of Quabtia, wants to ensure all Gazan children are protected and educated by ‘modernising’ his local nursery.
At least 625,000 children are missing out on education in Gaza, according to UNRWA, the UN agency that supports Palestinians. Schools have been shut since the beginning of the war.
That is, if the schools are still standing. As of Tuesday, 124 schools had been damaged in the enclave, with 62 destroyed, according to Gaza’s education ministry.
Officials say at least 9,800 school students have been killed, and more than 15,0000 have been injured.
In the West Bank, Gaza’s education ministry says Israeli forces have killed 76 school pupils since October 7, with 411 injured. Sixty-nine schools in the occupied territory have been vandalized, according to the ministry.
‘We are trying to bring joy to their hearts in light of these pressures and tragedies,’ says Mohammed.
For Corvin-Powells, this is why toys should be sent to countries wrought by war, poverty and natural disasters. They can make all the difference to innocent children.
‘Could we imagine them growing up into happier adults? Huh,’ he says.
‘What a world that would be.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE : I watched on the sidelines during PE, then one teacher changed everything
MORE : Little known theme park with free entry crowned the UK’s most affordable for families
MORE : Last words of ‘Day in the life in Gaza’ TikToker killed in Israeli airstrike
Get your need-to-know
latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.