israel-gaza-hamas-children-population-war-palestinians

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/ [login to see] /israel-gaza-hamas-children-population-war-palestinians
When Fidaa Al-Araj received the pre-recorded message last week telling her to evacuate her home because the area was about to be bombed, she first thought of her children.

To her surprise, they had actually beaten her to the street.

The day before, an Israeli airstrike had hit her cousin's house, killing his wife, mother and children. Those kids were close to Al-Araj's children in age. They were friends.

"My daughter said to me, 'What are you waiting for?'" Al-Araj recalled. "'Yesterday, we were crying for our cousins. Do you want people to cry over our dead bodies today?' So I had to leave."

The family left their home in Gaza City and started a days-long journey to Rafah, in southern Gaza, where NPR reached her by phone this week. Al-Araj, 39, is a mother of five, aged 13, 12, 10, 8 and 2.