‘I recognised her by her roller skate’…Israeli strike on Gaza kills children playing in the street

10-year-old Tala Abu Ajwa was among those killed while roller skating with friends outside her home

Middle East Eye

A young, lifeless girl lies on a hospital bed at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, her pink roller skate still strapped to her foot.

Footage circulating on social media showed Tala Abu Ajwa, 10, covered in blood as doctors desperately tried to save her on Tuesday.

Moments before, she had been playing with her neighbours outside their residential building in central Gaza City.

‘She insisted on going down to play with her friends. She kept nagging, saying that she would not be late. When her mother refused out of fear for her safety, given the situation, she had her friend’s mother call to convince her to let her join them,’ Tala’s father, Hussam, told Middle East Eye.

‘At around 5pm, her mother finally gave in to her pleas and allowed her to play downstairs. She left the apartment, and just a couple of minutes later we heard two massive explosions. The first thing that came to my mind was that Tala was not home, so I rushed downstairs to find her.’

An Israeli air strike had hit a building directly in front of the space where Tala and her friends regularly played.

When Hussam arrived at the scene, smoke and dust were filling the area, making it difficult for him to find his daughter.

‘I recognised her by her roller skate’

‘I couldn’t see anything,’ Hussam recalled, ‘smoke was pouring out from the area. I was searching everywhere and moving from place to place when I finally spotted her pink roller skate. It was barely visible, but I recognised her by her roller skate. I approached it and found her lying on the ground, taking her last breaths.’

‘I immediately carried her and rushed to the Baptist Hospital. She was still alive as I carried her, but her injuries were severe. I feared I would lose her, but did everything I could to keep her alive. A shrapnel had penetrated her neck, cutting the main vein and causing heavy bleeding. Her clothes were soaked in her own blood.’

When they arrived at the hospital, several doctors fought desperately to save Tala’s life, but despite their best efforts she succumbed to her wounds just minutes later.

‘They were monitoring her blood pressure and heart rate. Her blood pressure plummeted from 120 to 10 in a couple of minutes. That’s when I knew she was gone.’ 

Abu Ajwa removed Tala’s roller skates and watched as health workers wrapped her in a white shroud, preparing her for burial.

Medics said she was among nine people killed in the attack.

In a post shared on Facebook in October 2021, a local interior design and decoration company featured photos of Tala in her newly designed bedroom, which had been created especially for her.

Following her death, the post was reshared by activists, friends and relatives who mourned her.

More than 40,860 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 16,825 children, in Israeli attacks since 7 October.

‘Cherished’ girl

In the footage, originally filmed by a local journalist in Gaza, Tala’s mother, Hadeel Dolah, was seen bidding her farewell.

‘It’s still too early for you,’ she said, kissing her daughter goodbye.

Hussam later learned that Tala’s 11-year-old friend, the daughter of the woman who had called her mother just minutes before the attack, was seriously injured, while her three-year-old brother was also killed.

Tala, as her father describes her, was a cherished girl. She had an older brother and a younger sister, but she held a ‘special place in my heart’.

‘All her requests were met; everything she asked for was brought to her immediately. For example, I bought her a scooter about two months ago because she asked for it. I didn’t wait for her birthday or a special occasion to buy her toys and presents,’ Hussam added.

‘I bought her these roller skates about two years ago. She had seen a similar pair with her cousins and came to me asking for one. So, I got them for her. She learned to use them on her own, with a bit of guidance from her cousins, and she has been playing with them regularly ever since.

‘How could I have imagined, while buying them, that she would be killed while wearing them.’