Shot by Israeli troops while getting aid, a boy in Gaza fights for his life

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Nimer Saddy al-Nimer is 12. His first name means "Tiger" in Arabic. Wavy locks of sandy brown hair rest just above his large brown eyes. He's skinny and tall for his age. He calls himself a "soccer addict," he's a fan of FC Barcelona, and Lionel Messi is his hero. He'd pretend to be the Argentine superstar when he played pickup games with his friends in the alleys behind the mosque near his home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.

Nimer is in pain. It comes in waves. He's just had surgery on his stomach, back, legs and hand to remove bullets. Each left long incision wounds lined with stitches and dried pus. Flies are drawn to them. When he takes too deep of a breath, his skinny frame convulses uncontrollably, like an electric shock shooting through his insides that makes him scream in agony. He cries out for drugs that will numb the pain, but there are none.

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"There were so many people fighting for food," remembers Nimer. "It felt like all of northern Gaza was on top of the boxes. I took a bag of flour, a box of dates, a can of meat, a can of chickpeas and a pack of biscuits."

Amid the chaos, Nimer remembers hearing the familiar high-pitched whir of an armed drone, then the rumble of a tank. Behind that, he saw Israeli soldiers pointing guns at them.

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https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1246593844/israel-gaza-palestinian-boy-shot-food-aid