For Ibrahim Ahmed, the growing death toll from Israel’s ruthless military invasion of Gaza is an actual, everyday reality; rather than erecting homes like he did prior to the conflict, he excavates graves.
Like the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants, Ahmed was uprooted from his house and now makes his living at the Tal Al-Sultan cemetery in the Rafah neighborhood. He prepares rows of graves in the sandy ground there and marks them with cement blocks in the event that there are no gravestones.
“As a human being who has feelings, it feels heavy to go from building villas and apartments, which I love, to building graves,” Ahmed stated.
“Yes, my job was challenging, but I always felt accomplished when I left for home. Every day I created something new—a fresh structure or interior design. I felt happy when I got home.”
These days, bodies and grieving relatives’ processions arrive every day.
“I see faces and suffering that are different, but they are the same people.” It’s gloomy,” Ahmed remarked.
“We have two mass graves here, nearly 80 martyrs over here, and 100 more martyrs over there.”
Israel launched an air and ground assault on Gaza, destroying a large portion of Palestinian territory. According to the health ministry in Gaza, the death toll surpassed 30,000 on Thursday.
“The quantity keeps rising. Ahmed remarked, “I wish I could stop working like this.”
Ahmed and the other volunteers have been constructing empty graves in long rows ahead, knowing full well that more dead will come.
“I wish this war would end so that we don’t have to build graves anymore, but instead build this country, rebuild it,” he stated.
I am a dedicated student currently in my seventh semester, pursuing a degree in International Relations. Alongside my academic pursuits, I am actively engaged in the professional field as a content writer at the Rangeinn website.