Riyad Hamad

“We are living in fear. When I go out into the streets, I swear I am afraid. Even when I am walking or sitting in a car, my heart is filled with fear … Why should our children have to live with this constant fear and anxiety, even until the last moment?”

Riyad Hamad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-31

Riyad Hamad described the pervasive fear his family lives in amid ongoing Israeli strikes in Gaza.

“Enough is enough. The child is supposed to bury his father, not the father bury his child. They have turned the order of things upside down.”

Riyad Hamad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-31

Riyad Hamad grieved the death of his 14-year-old son Mohammed, killed in an Israeli strike while returning from school.

“He was not just my son, he was my friend,”

Riyad Hamad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-31

Riyad Hamad mourned his 14-year-old son Mohammed, who was killed in an Israeli strike on October 17 while returning home from school in Deir el-Balah.

“He has become very afraid of going to school. They used to go together every day and come back together. Now he cannot come to terms with having to go on his own,”

Riyad Hamad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-31

Riyad Hamad described how his surviving 10-year-old son Abdullah has become afraid of going to school after witnessing his brother Mohammed's death.

“Mohammed used to ask me: ‘How am I with you?’ I swear, I never asked him for anything more,”

Riyad Hamad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-31

Riyad Hamad recalled a question his son Mohammed used to ask him, reflecting on the boy's schoolwork and achievements.

“He was doing so well. May God have mercy on him.”

Riyad Hamad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-31

Riyad Hamad spoke about his son Mohammed, an eighth-grade student among the top pupils in his class, who was killed in an Israeli strike.