By Palestine Chronicle Staff – Gaza

In the gallery below, the Palestine Chronicle joined a group of children in a displacement center in Rafah. They hope to fetch some water, occasionally arriving in small trucks.

To survive in the displacement refugee camps in Gaza, you have to learn to be patient, and for the nearly two million displaced Palestinians, every member of the family has a role. 

Gaza children often top every tragic category of victims in Gaza. They are the ones who are killed most, wounded most, maimed most, and traumatized most.

But the Gaza children are not simply victims. Like all Gazans, they are also fighters – namely fighting for the survival of their families. 

Indeed, wherever you look in Rafah, and elsewhere for that matter, you will find Gaza children lining up, either for water, a loaf of bread, or whatever meager supplies that are allowed to reach their massive and growing refugee encampments.

In the gallery below, the Palestine Chronicle joined a group of children in a displacement center in Rafah. They are either on their own or with older members of their families, with the hope of fetching some water, highly salinated water, of course, occasionally arriving in small trucks.

Some of these children returned home empty-handed. Others managed to successfully fill their plastic containers, before embarking on a journey of carrying their precious finds all the way back to the camp. 

Some children, like the top photo of the girl with the red pajamas, have devised a less tasking way of carrying their water containers. Other boys and girls began mimicking her. 

This is their story. 

(All Photos: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)