Phone Calls from Palestine

Miracles do happen… even under the most difficult circumstances. For Jihad Al-Sabaa, newborn son Muhammed is a beacon of light in a time filled with darkness

In another time and place, Jihad’s aspirations for his newborn son might seem unremarkable… just like any other doting father’s. But, like many other infants in the Gaza Strip, baby Muhammed was born under occupation. Despite his safe arrival, hopes and dreams under apartheid are significantly more difficult to attain.

What should be a happy and celebratory time for the Al-Sabaa family has been overshadowed by relentless bombing, destruction and threats. The first warning came just days after Muhammed was born in February:

“To the terrorists of Hamas and the organizations, this is your last chance to save yourselves and your families. Choose the right side before it’s too late. Hamas is leading you to destruction, and I will help you preserve your life and improve it. ‘Ramadan Kareem’. Call me on phone or WhatsApp: 972523608172 North Gaza Sector Officer – Captain Abu Hazem, Intelligence.”

This followed reports of Israeli drones dropping small bags containing cigarettes, dates and cards with contact numbers for Israeli intelligence officers on Gaza’s fasting and starving population during Ramadan.

This tactic appears to have been rolled out to take advantage of their desperation and bribe Palestinians into cooperating or working as informants in exchange for basic necessities.

Subsequent messages sent to Jihad’s phone have read:

“To the activists of the terrorist organizations, do not deny the future and do not be misled. Look at what is happening around you. The Almighty said: ‘Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.’ Trump’s envoy said there is no other option for Gaza. The other option is returning to fighting.”

“The fighting has begun, and the new government has started recruiting activists and police to take control of the sector. And remember the days when I gathered you in your underwear and took you to the prisons — they are about to return. The Defense Army is still achieving divine victories, and we are close to finishing off the Iranian terrorist regime, and then it will be the turn of whoever remains from the Hamas terrorists.”

While Jihad ignores the messages, worry is never far away. He desperately covets a bright future for his sixth child, but fears for his safety every moment of every day. Muhammed is just a few months old, yet his world is already fraught with danger.

Jihad’s ambitions for baby Muhammed not only include good health, longevity, success and prosperity, but basic survival. He desperately prays for the protection of his son’s human rights. But at this point in time, in Palestine, human rights are not a given. In fact, they are null and void at the hands of the Zionist regime.

“I feel sad and angry, not for myself, but for my children and family who are completely innocent in all of this,” says Jihad.

“My dreams for my son, Muhammed, are the same as any simple father’s dreams for his child. I hope I can provide him with a safe and dignified life, his basic rights to food, clothing, and shelter, and be able to meet his needs and the needs of his older siblings – even the little things that bring them joy.

“I dream of him sleeping peacefully and comfortably, with his own crib – a place to protect him from the cold and danger… even a simple tent to keep him safe from insects and mice.

“My only hope is that he grows up feeling safe and loved and lives his childhood in peace like other children.”

Despite the pain, Jihad and his family are still clinging to hope but the situation is increasingly difficult.

“Bombing, fear and destruction surround us on all sides, as if everything is closing in on us. The planes are constantly in the sky. Today, a tent was bombed, and everyone inside was burned to death—a scene beyond description. The danger is ever-present, and there is no real sense of safety.

“The demolition of homes hasn’t stopped in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip which are controlled by the Israeli army. The sound of warships at sea is constant and anxiety has become a part of our daily lives.

“Honestly, I feel that the situation is deteriorating. There is an unnatural sense of tension, as if something terrible is about to happen.

“We write about life, but we live the pain. We try to understand reality, but reality is too harsh to bear. This pain clings to us, never leaving us, as if it were a part of our very breath. We live in the hope that it will go away, that the weight of this bitter and cruel life will lessen… a life of tents, rain, and cold. Our children tremble with fear before they tremble from the frost.

“We live under a sky that knows no peace – shells still raining down on the tents at the whim of the Israeli occupier, as if our lives have no value, as if our pain is invisible.
And in this unjust world, consciences have vanished, and silence has become louder than truth, and harsher than all the bombs.“

And yet, Jihad insists that, ultimately, the Al-Sabaa family is okay – thanks to God.

“I have been blessed with a new baby boy, Muhammed. He came into this world amidst pain and suffering in the harsh reality we live in Gaza. My joy in him is immense, as if he is a compensation from God for all that we have lost, including our martyrs.

“I wish him a safe and dignified life and that he may be a light in a time filled with darkness.”

Please keep Jihad and his family in your prayers and donate if you can.

Thank you and free Palestine.