{"id":7260,"date":"2026-01-02T07:50:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T07:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7260"},"modified":"2026-01-02T07:50:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T07:50:49","slug":"gaza-cousins-face-lost-youth-and-family-tragedy-after-amputations-israel-palestine-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7260","title":{"rendered":"Gaza cousins face lost youth, and family tragedy, after amputations | Israel-Palestine conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Abdullah Nattat was once an energetic young man working as a singer and a performer, hosting wedding celebrations and entertaining children.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old now sits in a wheelchair, both of his legs amputated.<\/p>\n

\n

Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n

\u201cAt this time every year, I would usually be busy performing at Christmas and New Year\u2019s celebrations held by Gaza\u2019s hotels and restaurants before the war,\u201d Abdullah told Al Jazeera with a sad smile.<\/p>\n

In September, as an Israeli military ground operation began in northern Gaza, Abdullah was displaced from Beit Lahiya in the north to an apartment belonging to relatives in central Gaza City.<\/p>\n

There, as he walked among a group of pedestrians near the as-Saraya Junction, an air strike hit.<\/p>\n

Abdullah survived, but his injuries would be life-changing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was returning from the market with a friend and had bought a few things for the house,\u201d said Abdullah, who is married and the father of a four-year-old child.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly, there was a huge explosion. I didn\u2019t wake up until I found myself lying on the ground, surrounded by black smoke. I tried to stand up, but I couldn\u2019t. I looked at my legs, one had been completely severed at the knee, and the other was badly torn apart,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t comprehend what had happened. I looked beside me and found my friend lying there, torn apart, his legs injured just like mine. We were both soaked in our own blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Picture
A photo on Abdullah Nattat\u2019s phone shows him performing as a singer at concerts before he lost his legs [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not alone<\/h2>\n

After the injury, Abdullah lost consciousness. He later woke up in the hospital to the devastating news that both of his legs had been amputated above the knee. White bandages were wrapped around the wounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat moment was extremely harsh and difficult for me,\u201d Abdullah said. \u201cBut what could I do? This is God\u2019s will, and I forced myself to accept it, no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not alone, as you can see. My cousin Diaa, who lives with us, is suffering like I am. We share the same burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdullah continued speaking, as he welcomed his cousin Diaa Abu Nahl, 30, his close friend and former colleague with whom he hosted wedding celebrations.<\/p>\n

Diaa endured an even more devastating tragedy.<\/p>\n

In July, he was injured in a direct Israeli strike on their family home in Beit Lahiya, killing 22 people, including his wife and two daughters: Hala, five, and Sama, three.<\/p>\n

\"Picture
Diaa Abu Nahl\u2019s daughters Hala, right, and Sama were killed along with their mother and other family members in an Israeli air strike in July [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Diaa\u2019s right leg was amputated, while the other sustained severe injuries and requires more surgeries to save it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strike happened at about 2:30am. We were all asleep, lying next to each other: my wife, my daughters and I,\u201d Diaa told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel anything. I just woke up in a room filled with black ash and screams all around me. I tried to stand up, but I couldn\u2019t. When I looked at my legs, I saw they were torn apart, each in a different direction,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stopped focusing on my legs and started searching for my wife and daughters around me, but I couldn\u2019t see them. Then I lost consciousness due to the severe bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the hospital, Diaa realised he had lost his two daughters and his 26-year-old wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep thinking about how they died and I didn\u2019t, even though I was right beside them,\u201d Diaa said. \u201cI completely lost my sense of life after losing them, and my injury has made everything much harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Diaa recounted his story spontaneously to Al Jazeera, Abdullah\u2019s face filled with deep sadness and compassion for his cousin and friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis story is incredibly painful,\u201d Abdullah said quietly as Diaa struggled to hold back tears. \u201cHe lost his leg and he lost the most precious people in his life: his wife and children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Gaza, when you see someone else\u2019s tragedy, your own pain feels lighter,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Diaa
Diaa Abu Nahl lost his leg, but says it is incomparable to the loss of his wife and daughters [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Live on wheelchairs\u2019<\/h2>\n

After two years of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza, a ceasefire was declared in October, although Israel continues to attack periodically, killing hundreds of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Abdullah and Diaa are trying to move on, and currently receive some physiotherapy sessions at a medical centre run by the Gaza Municipality.<\/p>\n

The two young men spend most of their time together and are now living in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza City, at Diaa\u2019s family home.<\/p>\n

In their shared wounds and suffering, they find comfort and solidarity, though they do not hide their sorrow over their lost youth and the reality of living with amputations in a devastated Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter our legs once raced the wind, we now live on wheelchairs,\u201d Abdullah said, as he turned the wheels of his chair from side to side.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need help with every step. Someone has to push us from behind. Our bodies are weak and greatly affected by the cold. We need intensive treatment and prosthetic limbs, and none of this is available in Gaza right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Health, about 6,000 limb amputations have been recorded since the start of the Israeli war on the strip in October 2023 through the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

Children account for about 25 percent of these cases, while women make up approximately 12.7 percent.<\/p>\n

The ministry says the amputees require urgent and longterm rehabilitation programmes that are not currently available in Gaza, including advanced prosthetics.<\/p>\n

\"Abdullah
Abdullah Nattat and his cousin Diaa Abu Nahl find solace in their shared suffering and hope to be able to travel abroad for treatment and prosthetic limbs [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Better future?<\/h2>\n

Abdullah and Diaa now share the same wish: to stand on their feet again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my thoughts and dreams now revolve around standing on my feet with prosthetic limbs,\u201d Abdullah said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery night, when I lie in bed, I imagine myself with complete legs and that the next morning I will stand on them again,\u201d he added emotionally.<\/p>\n

Abdullah and Diaa hope they will soon be given a chance to travel abroad to receive treatment and be fitted with prosthetic limbs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you can see, our most basic rights have become mere dreams and wishes \u2013 in a war we had no hand in,\u201d Abdullah said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have lost so much over these past two years. We hope the coming year will bring compensation and better days.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Abdullah Nattat was once an energetic young man working as a singer and a performer, hosting wedding celebrations and entertaining children. The 30-year-old now sits in a wheelchair, both of his legs amputated. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list \u201cAt this time every year, I would usually be busy performing at Christmas and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}