"As I stood by the side of the road, I felt a small hand tugging at my clothes. I looked down and saw a little girl, no older than eight. She was barefoot, her shirt was torn, and her hair was messy and unwashed. Her eyes were beautiful, and her face showed innocence, yet exhaustion and despair clouded it. She pleaded: Please, please, give me just one shekel, God bless you."
"Her name, which means light in Arabic, stood in stark contrast to the darkness surrounding her. I asked her, Why are you asking for money, Nour? She looked at me hesitantly, then whispered, I want to buy an apple I crave one. In Gaza, a single apple now costs $7; before the war, a kilogramme of apples was less than a dollar."
"For more than two years, we have faced genocide. We have witnessed countless tragedies and horrors. But for me, the sight of children begging in the streets is particularly unbearable. Before the war, Gaza was still a poor place. We used to see child beggars, but they were few, mostly roaming in a few areas. Now, they are everywhere, from the north to the south. The genocidal war has destroyed families and livelihoods across Gaza."
A barefoot eight-year-old girl named Nour pleaded for one shekel to buy an apple, appearing exhausted, filthy, and desperate. In Gaza a single apple now costs $7 while prewar a kilogramme of apples cost less than a dollar. Large groups of children now beg across Gaza, not just isolated areas. The war has destroyed families and livelihoods, orphaned more than 39,000 children, and deprived over 80 percent of the workforce of jobs. Severe economic collapse and widespread destruction have driven children into street begging and deepened extreme food insecurity.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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