The Hall Of Silence

Today, I was scrolling through some videos and I saw something I will never forget. It was from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Ministry of Health had put up a big screen for the families. On it were pictures of the bodies released by the occupation after being held for a long time.

The pictures didn’t have names. Just numbers. The room was quiet, except for the crying. Mothers were crying a lot. People looked tense. Some went closer to the screen. Others covered their faces, scared of what they might see.

Dozens of people stood there with tears in their eyes. The mothers were the hardest to watch. Some screamed. Some just stood quietly, like words wouldn’t help. Everyone was looking for their child’s face among faces that didn’t look the same anymore.

The bodies were in a terrible state. The skin looked dark. Signs of torture were clear. Many had cotton stuffed in different places. Some said the occupation had taken organs before returning the bodies. Just thinking about it made everything worse.

Some faces were completely damaged. Some pictures showed only hands or legs. It was almost impossible to recognize many of them. Still, families kept looking, holding on to any small detail that might help them know who it was.

Watching the video was heavy. Mothers leaving the hall could barely walk. Some fathers sat on the floor holding their heads. Even people who didn’t find their child left feeling their hearts would never be the same.

I kept thinking while watching. How far can people’s cruelty go? How can a body be held after death and returned like this?

It wasn’t just pictures of bodies. It was proof of the pain people in Gaza live with. A pain that doesn’t end with death. It starts again with it.