Ibtisam Ahmed Abu Mustafa
\n11 years old \u2013 from Khan Younis<\/p>\n
On what she thought was an ordinary morning, Ibtisam went to school, unaware that October 7 would split her childhood in two: before the war\u2026 and after it.<\/p>\n
Her family was forced to flee to the Al-Mashrou\u2019 area, while her father stayed behind at work always promising that he would return carrying peace with him.
\nBut his absence grew\u2026 one month after another.
\nSeven long months during which Ibtisam imagined his return, replayed his voice in her mind, and waited for him at the door.<\/p>\n
Then came the news not of his return, but of his martyrdom.
\nA shock far heavier than a child\u2019s heart could hold.
\nIbtisam refused to believe it. She clung to hope, the only thing she had left.<\/p>\n
The pain deepened when the family learned that her father\u2019s body had not been laid to rest, as the occupation continued to withhold the bodies of dozens of martyrs.
\nAnd recently, the announcement came: the bodies handed over to the Red Cross had been buried without being identified.
\nHer father was not among them.
\nHis soul rose to the sky\u2026 while his body remained without a farewell.<\/p>\n
In a quiet voice carrying the sorrow of loss but also the strength of a child who keeps trying to rise, Ibtisam says:
\n\u201cI was depressed\u2026 I didn\u2019t join any activities. But when I heard about Nafs Empowerment, I came\u2026 I drew, I colored, I let things out\u2026 and I felt relief I haven\u2019t felt in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Ibtisam\u2019s eyes, you can see all the weight of loss
\nbut you can also see a small spark returning, a spark lit by play, art, and a safe space that finally allowed her to breathe.<\/p>\n
Ibtisam\u2019s story is not just the story of a child who lost her father.
\nIt is a reminder that children in war need more than shelter and food.
\nThey need someone to hold their hearts before they break
\nand someone to hear their voice before it goes silent inside them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ibtisam Ahmed Abu Mustafa 11 years old \u2013 from Khan Younis On what she thought was an ordinary morning, Ibtisam went to school, unaware that October 7 would split her childhood in two: before the war\u2026 and after it. Her family was forced to flee to the Al-Mashrou\u2019 area, while her father stayed behind …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3505,"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3503\/revisions\/3505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nafs.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}