“I can’t wait anymore. I can’t bear more pain. I didn’t do anything; I’m still a child. I’m not strong enough to endure this suffering,” Yara Al-Ghooty says in a low voice.

Just 12 years old, Yara was seriously injured by an Israeli missile while her family was sheltering with many others in Al-Mawasi, a town in southern Gaza.

Before that day, Yara and her family had been forced to flee their home twice. The first time was two months earlier in Rafah, when Israel issued an evacuation order. They scrambled to gather their belongings, like clothes, family documents and food. Meanwhile, the bombing was intensive all around.

“We stayed up all night, and finally fell asleep at 5 a.m.,” recalls Yara. “At 7, my father and brother woke us up to get going.” Then Israeli warplanes targeted the neighborhood. Yara, her mother, and three sisters ran in the street toward her grandfather’s house in Khan Younis. On the way, an Israeli rocket exploded near them.

“While I was walking behind my sister Sarah, we saw an Israeli plane overhead,” Yara says. “Sarah was hit and collapsed on the ground, hitting her head against a wall. I ran back to call my father. They rushed Sarah to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. It was very crowded and there was no bed for her. The missile had severed an artery, so she lost a lot of blood. My uncle, the director of one of the hospital units, made them transfer Sarah to the Jordan Hospital.

“The doctors performed an operation that lasted five hours,” Yara adds. “She basically slept there for a week and then she went home.”

A month ago, the family was forced to flee a second time due to an evacuation order. They sheltered in a tent by the sea. But even there, Israel bombed them. “My grandparents, father, and brother all were injured, and I was hit with shrapnel in my stomach.”

Yara spent 20 days in the hospital, during which she was unable to communicate with her family.

Over the weeks since then, Yara has returned to the hospital for numerous operations to remove parts of her intestines, pancreas, and colon. Eventually, the doctors decided it was urgent for her to travel out of Gaza as soon as possible to receive specialized care. However, due to the complicated and expensive crossing procedures, Yara continues to suffer in intensive care.

“I left the intensive care unit but had to return because my condition is not resolved,” Yara says. “I am very tired, my psychological state is destroyed, and I cannot bear this pain. This is all too much for me.”

Yara wishes she could get back on her feet again. Her family, which consists of her parents, three sisters, and two brothers, continues to live in a tent by the sea, suffering from hunger and cold. “Our house was destroyed, and we want to build it again,” she says. “We have many debts that we have not yet paid. They destroyed my toys and my memories with my siblings and friends. Israel must stop this attack.”

Now it’s Ramadan, her favorite holiday, and she hopes her health will improve. “I really miss my school and my friends.”