“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead.” — Ernest Hemingway
Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Alan Kurdi was a 3-year-old boy who was drowned in the Mediterranean Sea during the Syrian Civil War on September 2nd, 2015. He was one of the casualties of the wars and consequent refugee crises in the Middle East. The image of that lifeless boy became the image of war.
Before October 7, 2023, the Israeli army and the settlers had shot and killed many kids both in Gaza and in the West Bank. None of the soldiers or settlers were ever indicted.
It is estimated that in its war with Hamas, according to B’Tselem, as of 2021, some 2,171 Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli forces.
After October 7, 2023, IDF started its campaign of revenge which has continued until today.
In Gaza, within 21 months, nearly 17,000 children were killed, many more maimed and orphaned. Even after the so-called cease fire, children who were standing in line to get much needed food, were shot. Shot in the head to make sure they died. UNICEF wrote in their website: “Children in Gaza are cold, sick and traumatized. Hunger and malnutrition, and the dire living conditions more broadly, continue to put the lives of children at risk.” (report from December 20, 2024)
On January 29, 2024, volunteers from the Palestinian Red Crescent received an emergency call. A 6-year-old girl was trapped in a car, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they did everything they could to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab. Her voice is the voice of a terrified little girl who dies while talking to her parents. It is a heart-wrenching story.
Then as if the Middle East had not seen enough wars, Trump and Netanyahu decided to strike Iran. This, after the twelve-day war which had supposedly obliterated the nuclear sites. It was Netanyahu’s ‘s dream for nearly 30 years to strike Iran. His wish came true. Even if Trump had hesitated to get into another war or at least, had promised his base, he bowed.
Then came the second attack which begun with Israel attacking Iran, this time assassinating the Supreme leader and many other high-ranking officials. Following the bombardments, the U.S. army bombed various sites in Tehran and Isfahan causing damage to historical sites in Isfahan, or the Florence of the Middle East.
Before bombing those military sites, not all were, a school in the small city of Minab was targeted.
Minab is a city in Hormozgan province, in southern Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. On 28 February 2026, the Sharjareh Yayyebeh girls’ elementary school was destroyed as part of the Operation Epic Fury.
One hundred sixty-eight little girls perished. I suppose the mightiest army in the world and their counterpart did not have enough intelligence reports to conclude that this was just a school. No apology was made. Instead, Trump and his angry, hate mongering secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced that the Iranians did it. But later the Pentagon reported that it was the U.S. which hit the school with tomahawk missiles.
Trump lied again.
Following the US airstrike on an elementary school in Tabriz in March 2026, teacher Neda Amini was martyred. Public Domain.
In Lebanon, in the last few weeks, more than one hundred children died in daily bombardments by IDF.
The war continues. The bombardments are relentless. There is no end in sight. The Middle East is once again in flames.
The children are dying whether by hunger, by bombs, by shots, in sea, on land, in buildings, on the streets, and in their homes, tents and schools. They were the future of their lands, lands now stricken by constant shelling.
The voice of Hind Rajab echoes in our hearts and minds. Save the children and stop these illegal wars.
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