https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1.....gaza_west_bank

https://kpfa.org/episode/flashpoint.....cember-4-2025/ - Story on the murdered kids at the 30 minute mark

"In one recent incident, two children were killed by an Israeli drone for crossing the so-called yellow line, which isn’t always well marked. The children were brothers Fadi and Juma Abu Assi, the older of whom was 10 years old. They were gathering firewood for their disabled father. The Israeli military acknowledged the strike, saying, quote, “The Air Force eliminated the suspects in order to remove the threat,” unquote. Palestinians report Israeli forces continue to cross the yellow line on a near-daily basis."

But let's humanize that story, shall we?

Here's a poem about that story by Anita Barrows, who's been writing a poem a day for Gaza since October Seventh. Anita Barrows is the mother of the great Nora Barrows-Friedman, who's one of the hosts of The Electronic Intifada, an excellent website.


12/1/25
Day 787

Ceasefire III, Day 53

Two boys go searching
for firewood. Brothers.
They gather a few sticks,
some of them heavy.
The older one puts them
in the younger one’s
arms, held out
to receive them. This
is what they’ve been doing
for weeks now, since
the season turned. This
is how they’re keeping their family
warm, making it possible
to cook. Only now
they hear shots, not
far away. Have they crossed
the line? the invisible
yellow line? This
is the same place
where they gathered wood
yesterday. The shots
grow louder. Closer.
The brother holding the wood
has fallen now onto
the cold ground, bleeding.
His older brother
collapses now, shot
as well, as he’s
bending over him.
Wood scattered everywhere, stained
with their blood. This
is how their parents, later,
will find them.


https://www.poemsforgaza.com/