Chana Joffe-Walt

Banias was ready to leave because it meant she could get away from the girl with the bad personality. Almost a million kids in Gaza have made a move like this since Israel invaded, many of them multiple times. So it was interesting to hear how a child was thinking about it. Banias was ready to flee the home she'd lived in for 10 months at that point. To move into a tent.

Banias was ready to leave because it meant she could get away from the girl with the bad personality. Almost a million kids in Gaza have made a move like this since Israel invaded, many of them multiple times. So it was interesting to hear how a child was thinking about it. Banias was ready to flee the home she'd lived in for 10 months at that point. To move into a tent.

Because she got into a fight with an annoying girl that day. Because that is what just happened. And because Banias is eight. She told me her friend Donna's leaving, too.

Because she got into a fight with an annoying girl that day. Because that is what just happened. And because Banias is eight. She told me her friend Donna's leaving, too.

You're not scared? No. Okay.

You're not scared? No. Okay.

What does your mom think is a secret?

What does your mom think is a secret?

I almost couldn't bear hearing this. Banias' visceral, immediate panic was so uncomfortable, hearing her mother pierce the carefully constructed artifice she'd presented to me. And it was disorienting. It made me think of all the things I didn't know. Does she want to talk again? Yeah, she's here. Okay. Hello. Hi, Banias. Hi. Hi. How come you didn't want me to know that you were upset?

I almost couldn't bear hearing this. Banias' visceral, immediate panic was so uncomfortable, hearing her mother pierce the carefully constructed artifice she'd presented to me. And it was disorienting. It made me think of all the things I didn't know. Does she want to talk again? Yeah, she's here. Okay. Hello. Hi, Banias. Hi. Hi. How come you didn't want me to know that you were upset?

I'm not upset. You're not upset. Do you want to talk about that or no?

I'm not upset. You're not upset. Do you want to talk about that or no?

What? Not yet. Is there anything else you want to tell me about how you're doing?

What? Not yet. Is there anything else you want to tell me about how you're doing?

Yeah, it's late. So I hope you have an easy night, Benyus.

Yeah, it's late. So I hope you have an easy night, Benyus.

An incomplete list of things Benyus does not have control over. Can she go home? No. Is there food? Not enough. Is there school? No. Is there safety here? No. Banias lives in what has become the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Disease in Gaza is widespread. Children face acute malnutrition. Kids are getting horrible skin infections. Polio has reappeared in a 10-month-old baby.

An incomplete list of things Benyus does not have control over. Can she go home? No. Is there food? Not enough. Is there school? No. Is there safety here? No. Banias lives in what has become the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Disease in Gaza is widespread. Children face acute malnutrition. Kids are getting horrible skin infections. Polio has reappeared in a 10-month-old baby.

Children are losing their limbs, their parents, and they are being killed constantly. More than 13,000 children have been killed so far. including at least 710 babies, some of them born and then killed since the war began. Maram told me Banias has seen dead children. She's seen their small bodies wrapped in white cloth by the hospital.

Children are losing their limbs, their parents, and they are being killed constantly. More than 13,000 children have been killed so far. including at least 710 babies, some of them born and then killed since the war began. Maram told me Banias has seen dead children. She's seen their small bodies wrapped in white cloth by the hospital.