On a Sunday morning in western Gaza, an eight-year-old girl named Wafaa Akila dressed for her first day of school and rode with her father through streets that would not deliver them to their destination. An Israeli airstrike struck their vehicle, killing them both. Israel stated the strike targeted a Hamas militant — a claim that does not dissolve the presence of the child in the car, nor the particular cruelty of the timing. The conflict continues to write its heaviest costs in the lives of those who chose no part in it.
Eight-year-old Gaza girl killed in Israeli strike on first day of school
An eight-year-old girl and her father were killed in the strike.