Let me tell you the extraordinary tale of Wafaa Ahmed Alattar, an 11-year-old girl with an unyielding spirit who found herself alone in the world after losing her family to the ravages of the war in Gaza.

But first, let me share something about her life before that ghastly tragedy. Her father, Ahmed Alattar, a 34-year-old man, had faced many challenges and responsibilities. He had worked hard to provide a bright future for his family, using his intelligence, physical strength, and strong determination.

Ahmed loved his wife Khulood Azam and supported her with affection and care.

Wafaa, the eldest daughter, has herself also always embodied strength and courage. She has more than enough ambition to achieve her dreams and to become a success. She works diligently to achieve excellence, both academic and personal, and she always hoped to be a role model for her younger siblings.

Rital, the younger daughter, combined the qualities of protectiveness and tenderness. Her innocence and spontaneity were apparent in everything she did, and she enjoyed both playing and exploring. Rital created happiness in her home and kept the atmosphere warm and the house full of laughter.

Mohammed, the elder son, was characterized by intelligence, curiosity, and enthusiasm; he loved sharing all he learned with his family and telling them about his adventures.

Yazan, the younger son, was the embodiment of childhood innocence. He filled the home with his laughter and delighted everyone with his charming manners. He always enhanced the family’s spirit of unity and love.

The destruction of the family

This family embodied the strength and unity that enabled them to overcome the many challenges they faced in Gaza.

Then on February 22, 2024, the Israeli army destroyed their family home in the Deir Al-Balah camp, leaving Wafaa as the sole survivor.

It was an utter fluke — as Wafaa told it, her father had sent her to her uncle’s house next door to bring back a battery. When she returned to the door of her house, suddenly what she described as “an orange wave” appeared, totally disorienting her and making her feel as if she were in the middle of a horror movie.

Wafaa began screaming and crying as stones flew overhead and glass shattered everywhere. Her uncle, Mahmoud, managed to get out from under the rubble and, hearing her screams, came to her rescue. Her aunt, Enas, also appeared, equally frightened. The three of them managed to escape with the help of many neighbors who came to their aid.

An ambulance with paramedics took the wounded to the hospital, including Uncle Mahmoud (whose head was bleeding), Wafaa, and her cousin Hamza.

Once there, they were able to receive appropriate treatment.

Later the rest of Wafaa’s family was found dead under the rubble, and she herself was only able to bid them farewell at one last meeting.

As you may or may not even be able to imagine, Wafaa was filled with humongous grief and shock over this premature orphanhood, and it took virtually all her strength to deal with the horror of her multiple losses.

Thus began her time of mourning. Those she had lost were buried the next day, after the appropriate prayers had been offered, in keeping with Muslim custom.

Wafaa’s recollections of her family

Afterwards ,when Wafaa visited me along with my cousin, who happens to be her cousin as well, she described the relationship between herself and her family.

“My family represented love, optimism, and everything beautiful in this life. My family was my support and my strength.

“My mother always told me, ‘May Allah be pleased with you, my dear Wafaa. You always make me happy.’ My relationship with my mother was very comforting. She was one I trusted the most in the world, the most gentle and caring person I’d ever known in my life.

“Whenever she went out, my mother would never forget me. She would bring me chocolate or another of my favorite sweets. The very last time she went to visit my uncles on a Friday, I stayed home, and she brought me my very favorite chocolate.

“My parents were my biggest support in school, too. Once, when I took a math exam and didn’t get the grade I wanted, they encouraged me by saying, ‘You can do it, Wafaa, you’re smart.’ With their support, I achieved an A+ the following month!

“All my siblings were attached to me, too, at least in part because I was their eldest sister. I used to help them a lot with anything they needed. Once, my younger sister Rital asked me to comb her hair because she so much liked the hairstyle I created for her.”

In listening to Wafaa tell the story of just that fleeting moment, I realized the profound impact a small act of kindness can have, forever etching a smile on her face and, in the telling, deepening the ties that connected us as well.

“My father called me ‘the guardian of the Qur’an’ and he was very proud of me, always saying ‘Wafaa, like her father, memorized the Quran at a young age.’ He had always encouraged me to memorize the Qur’an and promised me an iPad as a gift when I had finished. And he followed through on his promise, rewarding me with an iPad in honor of my perseverance.

“I had finished memorizing the Qur’an during the war, and my father had promised to host a party to celebrate this achievement after the war, but sadly, before then, they were gone.

“Yazan, my youngest brother, was my sweetheart — any time I had to bid him farewell, he never, ever failed to cry — like every time!”

“I was always the one who had put him to sleep and I took care of him when my mother was busy. He just loved me. One day, my mother was busy, and he was crying, wanting her. I comforted him and played with him until my mother finished her work, and he remained peaceful.

“My parents always took pride in me, and their dream was for me to become a doctor.

“They used to tell me, ‘Wafaa, you’re smart; don’t give up, you will get what you want.’ And my own dream is still, in spite of everything, to become a doctor and to fulfill both my own ambitions and those that my family also wished to see me fulfill.

“What tears me apart the most is that I am left alone. This ghastly, horrible war took them all, every single one!”

Wafaa’s gift: inspiration

Despite the heartbreaking loss of her family, Wafaa is finding solace and strength in the bond of some new relationships she is forging with people she finds along her path. I, your author, feel incredibly privileged to be one of them.

Despite the challenging circumstances she faces while living in a war zone, she has displayed incredible mental fortitude and determination. She continues working to consolidate her memorization of the Holy Qur’an and has continued taking online courses and doing extensive reading. She models a commitment to learning and working to make possible a good future for herself, as well as to using her skills to help those she loves, especially those living in Gaza.

Wafaa, who is now being raised by her paternal grandmother, is bravely embracing her losses and working to continue her journey towards success. She is a model of courage for anyone blessed to cross her path.

As I see her embarking on a journey of self-discovery amidst the trials and tribulations of her recent past, I find myself very moved and uplifted. She gives me courage to face my own profound losses.

An unanswerable question

Wafaa is one of literally thousands of young people whose young, innocent lives have been upended by this ghastly war. With their homes destroyed and their families torn apart, they are forced to navigate a world of incomprehensible and indescribable loss and hardship at an incredibly tender age! These children bear terrible burdens of grief and loneliness.

What is the fault of all these thousands of children in Gaza, who are deprived of their right to childhood?

Their homes have been bombed, and their memories and dreams have been destroyed. They are having to experience the horror of orphanhood at very young ages.

They are deprived of the right to live in peace and security, deprived of having anything approximating a peaceful, so-called “normal” life.

Yet as these young souls grapple with the harsh realities of their existence, their unwavering resilience serves as a powerful reminder of the indomitable human will to survive and persevere.