Jabalia, Gaza – Between the arms of his father and the family who cared for him during his disappearance, little Mohammed plays happily.About 16 months ago, a 13-month-old Mohammed sat crying beside his mother’s lifeless body, surrounded by the dead and wounded, after an attack on the school the family was sheltering in.
That day, amid the chaos and fear as displaced families fled, he disappeared.
His father, Tareq Abu Jabal, spent more than a year looking for Mohammed while, unbeknownst to him, another man from the school was looking for Tareq.
‘A little guest’
Rasem Nabhan and his family were also displaced and sheltering in al-Rafei School in Jabalia in northern Gaza when two Israeli bombs hit it in late December 2023.
“We were terrified, the children were screaming,” the 41-year-old said. “Moments later, quadcopters appeared, broadcasting orders for everyone to evacuate immediately. There was gunfire everywhere.”
Rasem focused on getting his wife and seven children out of the school with the other women and children, then ran to help extinguish the flames still burning in the bombed classrooms. They needed to check if anyone was left alive.
Tareq Abu Jabal spent more than a year looking for his youngest child [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
“Blood covered the walls. … Body parts were scattered on the floor among the wounded and the dead. It was beyond words,” Rasem said. Advertisement
Amid the carnage, he said, “I saw a baby crying and screaming. Next to …
