At the age of 15, Mohammed should have been in school with his peers, but since his father was killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, he was forced to abandon his education and take on responsibilities as the breadwinner for his family.
“It is not my job to bear this burden,” the coffee seller tells Al Jazeera.
“This work – carrying thermoses, cups, going back and forth? It’s too much. I’m tired, but I have to do it to support my brothers and sisters.”
Mohammed is one of a growing number of Palestinian children in Gaza who have been forced to work as a result of Israel’s war.
At least 39,000 children have lost one or both parents in the war, and the enclave’s economy has been devastated by the conflict, with children as young as eight pushed into work for their families’ survival – losing not only their education, but also their childhood.
Mohammed’s mother, Atad Ashour, says she knows her son should go to school, but she has no choice.
“After his father was murdered, we were left with no income,” she said.
She said Mohammed’s elder brothers were unable to find jobs and she was unable to provide anything for the family.
“He is still a child, but he is taking on a responsibility that is not his,” she said. “Circumstances pushed us into it.”
Children have to suffer the consequences of this
Aid agencies in Gaza say children have borne the brunt of the war, causing them to take on additional responsibilities that are normally the domain of adults.
“We’re seeing more children picking up trash, finding pieces of scrap or firewood to sell, selling coffee,” said UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram.
She said the organization is “working with partners to do everything possible to try and stop these negative coping mechanisms, including providing cash assistance to families, educating them about the risks of child labor, and trying to help families resume employment”.
Speaking from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Rachel Cummings, Save the Children’s Gaza humanitarian director, said the breakup of families caused by the war is also forcing children into caring roles for siblings or older family members.
“The entire family structure in Gaza has been disrupted and children are very unsafe,” he said. “This very uncertain situation is really taking its toll.”
Over 600,000 out of school
The figures paint a bleak picture of the war’s impact on children in Gaza, where almost half the population is under 18.
According to Save the Children, more than 660,000 children are out of formal education, while an estimated 132,000 are at risk of severe malnutrition.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said that particularly due to the loss of parental breadwinners, Gazan children were forced to work in jobs they “shouldn’t have been doing”.
“They should have been playing with their friends at school,” she said. “The toll of war on Palestinian children is enormous.”
As he was walking home at the end of another long day of earning money for his family, Mohammed passed by a school, wishing he was still a student.
“Had my father been alive, you would have found me home schooling,” he says.
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