Amina Al-Mufti, a Palestinian child, was only 10 years old. Only a child! She simply stepped out to fetch a bucket of clean water for her family, something for which no child should have to risk their life.
Her parents thought she would be gone only a few minutes. Instead, they found her body in the hospital, wrapped in a burial shroud. This is the reality in Gaza.
Families are forced to flee their homes again and again, not because of earthquakes or floods, but because bombs chase them wherever they go.
Because they need water.
Because they need food.
Children step outside for water or bread and never return. Parents search hospital corridors not for medicine, but for their children’s bodies.
We can’t call this “collateral damage”. It’s already been called a ‘genocide’.
These are deliberate human choices that rip away the most basic rights: safety, dignity, childhood.
How many more Aminas must be buried before the world wakes up?
How many have suffered and will suffer just like Amina, before our “leaders” stop sending weapons, stop talking passively and start demanding peace?
Silence makes us complicit.
We’ve said this too many times.
Looking away makes us part of the machinery that allows children to be killed while fetching water.
We’ve said this too many times.
It’s time to stop pretending this is too complex, too complicated, too difficult, too far away, too political.
It’s simple – innocent people are being massacred.
It must end – now, immediately, urgently, today, this minute….
Thank you Matthew Doran, ABC Middle East journalist, for reporting, for telling the truth. May all the world’s media follow in truth-telling and calling for immediate action.
Further reading: Ten-year-old Amina was fetching water when a missile strike killed her
The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.
Meg Schwarz
Meg Schwarz holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy and brings over 35 years of experience championing social justice, advocacy and consumer engagement. Based in South Australia, Meg has dedicated her career to working alongside diverse communities, including refugees, people with disabilities and individuals with complex trauma backgrounds.With a strong passion for equality and human rights, Meg specialises in fostering meaningful communication, empowering voices through advocacy and creating inclusive spaces for dialogue. Her skills in stakeholder engagement, strategic communication and community development have earned her recognition as a trusted and compassionate leader in her field.