Gaza Strip: More than 1,000 Palestinian children orphaned by the war took part in a graduation ceremony on Monday, August 18, at Gaza’s Al-Wafaa Orphan Village, with no parents there to applaud their achievement. The ceremony marked the first graduating class since the centre opened in January, offering a rare moment of celebration amid ongoing hardship.
Organised by the Al-Wafaa Orphanage Association with support from the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization and the Jordanian Campaign, the event featured performances highlighting the resilience and courage of the young graduates.
Dressed in caps and gowns and waving Palestinian flags, the children celebrated while holding photographs of lost loved ones alongside their diplomas. The scene was both uplifting and heartrending, reflecting the deep personal losses they have endured.
Palestinian journalist Abdallah Al Attar shared video footage of the event on Instagram, captioning it, “Today, more than 1,000 Palestinian children graduated from Al-Wafaa Orphanage—a thousand smiles concealing a thousand sorrows. Each story begins with the loss of a parent or a home turned into memory. It was a graduation marked by tears, with diplomas in one hand and photographs of loved ones in the other.”
Watch the video here
Organisers described the ceremony as the largest of its kind since Israel began the destruction of Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. The ongoing military operations, currently under investigation in an International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case, have claimed over 62,000 Palestinian lives, including more than 18,500 children.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, nearly 40,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents, creating the world’s largest orphan crisis in modern history.
Tensions remain high. On Wednesday, August 20, Israeli Defence Minister Yisrael Katz approved a military plan to occupy Gaza City, codenamed “Gideon II,” warning that the city “will never be the same again.”
