Remembering Issa al-Souri, a little boy killed when Israel bombed a church

A sweet, smiling boy who was his parents’ whole world is now gone along with them.

Gaza Strip – No child likes the sounds of bombing and missiles, their ears cannot bear them. Issa Tariq al-Souri, 13, was the same.

There was a time when he, like the other children of Gaza, had a child’s concerns – finishing his schoolwork and running out to play football or connect with friends. They played, chasing each other around or seated around a videogame console, shouting and cheering.

Complaints that he and his classmates at the Rosary Sister’s School in Gaza City had were about schoolwork, exams or an exam being scheduled at the same time as sports class.

Issa and his parents fled their home in October, heading for the Greek Orthodox Church between Zeitoun and Shujayea where they sheltered with hundreds of Christian and Muslim Palestinians who were all fleeing Israel’s bombing.

Despite the international ban on targeting places of worship, Israeli forces bombed the church on October 20, killing Issa, his mother Lisa and his father Tariq. He was an only child.