Carrying thermoses through the streets of Gaza City, Palestinian teenager Mohammed Ashour calls out to passersby, hoping they might buy a cup of his coffee.
At 15, Mohammed should be in school with his peers, but since his father was killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, he has been forced to abandon his education and shoulder responsibilities as the breadwinner for his family.
“This burden isn’t mine to carry,” the coffee vendor tells Al Jazeera.
“This work – carrying thermoses, cups, going back and forth? It’s too much. I’m exhausted, but I have to do it to support my siblings.”
Mohammed is one of a growing number of Palestinian children in Gaza who have been forced into work as a result of Israel’s war.
With at least 39,000 children having lost one or both parents in the war, and the enclave’s economy devastated by the conflict, children as young as eight have been pushed into work for their families’ survival – losing not only their education, but their childhoods.
Mohammed’s mother, Atad Ashour, says she knows her son should be in school, but that they have no alternative.
“After his father was killed, we were left with no income at all,” she said.
She said Mohammed’s older brothers were unable to find jobs, and she was unable to provide the family with anything.
“He’s still a child, but he’s carrying a responsibility that isn’t his,” she said. “The circumstances pushed us into this.”
Children bear the brunt
Aid agencies in Gaza say children have borne the brunt of the war, forcing them into additional responsibilities that would normally be the domain of adults.
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“We’re seeing more children scavenging through waste, looking for pieces of scrap or firewood to sell, children selling coffee,” said UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram.
She said the organisation was working with partners “to do everything we can to try and stop these negative coping mechanisms, including giving families cash assistance, educating them about the risks of child labour and trying to help families resume employment”.
Speaking from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Rachel Cummings, Gaza humanitarian director for Save the Children, said the family breakdown caused by the war was also driving children into roles caring for siblings or older family members.
“The whole family structure has been disrupted in Gaza and children are very vulnerable,” she said. “This very precarious situation is really taking its toll.”
More than 600,000 out of school
The statistics paint a bleak picture of the effect of the war on children in Gaza, where nearly half the population is under 18.
More than 660,000 children are out of formal education, while an estimated 132,000 face the risk of acute malnutrition, according to Save the Children.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the loss of parental breadwinners, in particular, had forced Gaza’s children into doing tasks “that they were not supposed to be doing”.
“They were supposed to be in school, playing with their friends,” she said. “The war’s toll on Palestinian children has been massive.”
As he walks home at the end of another long day earning money for his family, Mohammed walks past a school, wishing he were still a student.
“If my father were alive, you would find me at home going to school,” he says.
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