Yves here. The horrors of Israel’s genocide in Gaza become more intense and wide-ranging as the pace of its extermination accelerates. Israel is also stepping up its ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. It is attacking Southern Lebanon as the Lebanese government is seeking to disarm Hezbollah….a move that is opposed by enough of the populace that Alastair Crooke contends it will produce civil war. And not surprisingly, Netanyahu is taking credit for the Lebanese initiative against Hezbollah. A civil war would lower the cost to Israel of subduing Lebanon.
With so many vicious campaigns in motion in parallel, it’s hard not to become numbed even to graphic accounts of institutionalized savagery. Stalin was correct when he said, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.”
So in an effort to again remind readers of the very real human cost, we are featuring two final accounts from Palestinians who correctly anticipated that they would die at the hands of the Israelis. One is from Aljazeera journalist Anas Jamal Al-Sharif. Among the many fierce criticism that the rogue ethno-supremacist state has shrugged off it its targeting of journalists, medical professionals, and aid workers. The other is one that stuck with me, the will of a 10 year old in Gaza.
They accept the likelihood of their martyrdom and that it would serve Allah’s will. This level of faith seems common among Palestinians and seems to be more a deeply held cultural value than what we would consider a strictly religious belief. It may also be the result of having to steel oneself to daily indignities and cruelty, particularly arbitrary killings and maimings. I have heard some Evangelicals talk cheerily of dying and (unduly confidently) of going to Heaven. Those sort of formulas, even when sincere, often come off as Disneyesque or cultish. The US is addicted to feel-good and that seems to bleed into religious practice.
Ten-year-old children are supposed to be busy playing with toys, doodling and hanging out with their friends, not writing a will in case they die.
My will, if I become a martyr or pass away: Please do not cry for me, because your tears cause me pain. I hope my clothes will be given to those in need. My accessories should be shared between Rahaf, Sara, Judy, Lana, and Batool. My bead kits should go to Ahmed and Rahaf. My monthly allowance, 50 shekels, 25 to Rahaf and 25 to Ahmed. My stories and notebooks to Rahaf. My toys to Batool. And please, do not yell at my brother Ahmed, please follow these wishes.
Rasha’s will, written before she died in Gaza [Courtesy of Asem Alnabih]
No one in the family knew anything about a will from my 10-year-old niece Rasha, not until after we buried her in the same grave as her brother, Ahmed, aged 11, with half their faces gone as a result of an Israeli air strike on their home on September 30…
In her will, Rasha asked that no one shout at her older brother Ahmed, a mischievous ball of energy who also excelled at school and everyone loved. Curiously, she believed Ahmed would survive her, inherit her 25 shekels and live a life she couldn’t. But they were destined to meet their end together, just as they had lived, feared and starved together….
None of us in the family understands why a child so young wrote a will with her final wishes to distribute her belongings to her loved ones. What was going on in her mind? We know the past 12 months have been extremely traumatic for Palestinians, young and old, but why was Rasha convinced that she was going to die?
Unfortunately, Rasha inferred correctly and earlier than most adult Palestinians from the ferocity of Israel’s attacks on Gaza that its intent was to exterminate them all, and her odds of survival were very low.
By Anas Jamal Al-Sharif. Cross posted from openDemocracy
Anas Jamal Al-Sharif was a Palestinian journalist from Gaza. He was killed, along with four of his Al Jazeera colleagues and two others, including his nephew, in a targeted Israeli air strike on a media tent outside Al-Shifa Hospital on 10 August 2025. Below, openDemocracy is republishing his final statement, which was published posthumously on his X account.
This is my will and my final message. If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of Allah. Allah knows that I exerted every effort and strength I had to be a support and a voice for my people, from the moment I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that Allah would prolong my life until I could return with my family and loved ones to our original hometown, the occupied Ascalon “Majdal.” But Allah’s will prevailed, and His decree was fulfilled.
I lived pain in all its details and tasted loss and grief time and again. Yet, I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification, hoping that Allah would bear witness to those who remained silent, those who accepted our killing, and those who besieged our breaths, unmoved by the remains of our children and women, and who did not stop the massacre that our people have been enduring for over a year and a half.
I entrust you with Palestine, the jewel in the crown of Muslims, the beating heart of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its oppressed young children who were not given the chance to dream or live in safety and peace, whose pure bodies were crushed by thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart, their remains scattered on the walls. I urge you not to let chains silence you or borders hold you back. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our plundered homeland.
I entrust you to take care of my family, I entrust you with the apple of my eye, my beloved daughter Sham, whom time did not grant me to see grow as I had dreamed. I entrust you with my dear son Salah, whom I wished to support and be a companion for until he grew strong, to carry the burden from me and continue the mission.
I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose prayers blessed me to reach where I did. Her supplications were my fortress, and her light was my path. I pray to Allah to grant her heart patience and to reward her on my behalf with the best reward.
I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah Bayan, whom war separated from me for long days and months. Yet she remained steadfast, like an unyielding olive tree trunk, patient and trusting in Allah, carrying the responsibility in my absence with all strength and faith. I urge you to rally around them and be their support after Allah, the Mighty and Exalted.
If I die, I die steadfast in my principles, bearing witness before Allah that I am content with His decree, faithful in meeting Him, and certain that what is with Allah is better and everlasting. O Allah, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path to freedom for my people and my family.
Forgive me if I fell short, and pray for me for mercy, for I have kept my pledge and neither changed nor wavered. Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your righteous prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.
