‘I whispered in her ear, asking her to tell my sister, my mother, I love them’: A letter from Gaza

You have seen the photo. It's Samia al-Atrash cradling the body of her niece Massah after she and her family died in an Israeli attack on Rafah. Now, Samia speaks about life and death in Gaza

'I could not hold my sister Samar because her body was in pieces. So was Massah’s big sister, Lina, who was four...' Samia al-Atrash gently cradling the remains of her two-year-old niece, Massah, after the Khudair family was killed in an Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on October 21, 2023. Picture: Said Khatib/AFP

Dear World,

My name is Samia.