Video: Toddlers in Gaza hold doll’s funeral, mirroring what they see every day

Gaza has endured the weight of a long and devastating war. Children were sucked into crisis. As conflict widened, the death of civilians became a part of daily life. A video surfaced on X, showing even the youngest growing up surrounded by scenes no child should ever have to see.

A funeral procession begins, not with grown men, but with toddlers. They carry a doll together on a stretcher, lifting it carefully as if it were real, moving in slow, measured steps. These children, who should be lost in ordinary games, instead recreate a funeral they seem to understand far too well.

Read Full StoryOne child holds the doll from one side, another supports it from the other, as they walk in unison. A few follow closely behind, watching in silence. The gestures feel practised, not imagined — something learnt from what they have seen around them. In Gaza, even the act of carrying the dead has become familiar enough to be repeated in play.

There is a stillness in their movements that does not belong to their age. In that quiet procession, some of them smile softly, unaware of the weight of the moment.

The video has triggered an outpouring of emotion online. Many individuals struggled to process what they saw. “These are what they live to see every day .. ambulance with stretchers stretching people in and out of the hospitals,” one user wrote, pointing to the reality behind the children’s actions. Another said, “no, this is really a sad game imagine what these kids have witnessed,” while a third added, “I cried. The most disadvantaged children in the entire earth.” For some, the clip also carried a broader plea: “How this video could not bring the MOST EVIL of PEOPLE to MAKE PEACE IMMEDIATELY”.

NO RESPITE FOR CHILDREN IN GAZA

For hundreds of children in Gaza, play has become a way to process what they see around them — turning lived experience into something they can express, even if they do not fully understand it. The scale of that reality is stark. More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in October 2023, according to local health officials.

Children have borne a devastating share of the toll. Aid group Save the Children says at least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average during the war, with the number of children killed now exceeding 20,000. Data from Gaza’s Government Media Office also puts the figure at more than 20,000, which is around 2 per cent of the territory’s child population.

Even periods of reduced fighting have offered little relief. A ceasefire was established in October, but according to the United Nations, hundreds of children have been killed since then, roughly one child every day.

For those who survive, the risks remain constant. Hunger is tightening its grip across Gaza. More than a million people, about half of them children, are already facing catastrophic food shortages. The UN flagged that at least 132,000 children under five are at risk of dying from acute malnutrition. So far, at least 135 children have died from starvation, including 20 since famine was formally declared on August 22.

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