"Ali, the bolder of the two despite being only three years old, tears his open at once. list of 3 itemsend of list Six-year-old Omar fumbles, one-handed, with the plastic, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Without hesitation, Ali reaches across, peels it open and sets the notebook back in Omar's lap. Soon Omar will have a prosthetic arm like Ali, and the small rituals of childhood, like opening a present, will be possible again."
"In Hamra, a bustling district of Beirut where traffic clogs the streets and the Mediterranean glimmers beyond the hotels, they share the same apartment block and the same wounds. Both were pulled from the rubble. Both were the only survivors of their families, and both had their hands torn off by an Israeli bomb. Once separated by hundreds of miles, Omar Abu Kuwaik from Gaza, and Ali Khalife from southern Lebanon, are casualties of Israel's war on children."
"Omar, left, and Ali have become very close in the time they've spent together at the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children's Fund accommodation, in Beirut, Lebanon [Caolan Magee/Al Jazeera] And Sobhiye, who never had children of her own, vowed to raise Ali after the rest of her family was killed. Omar and Ali now call their aunties Mama. The memories of before are too painful, Maha said. They just want to forget."
Two boys pulled from rubble in Gaza and southern Lebanon now live together in Beirut. Ali is three and Omar is six. Both lost hands to Israeli bombs and were the only survivors of their families. They share an apartment block in Hamra and receive support through the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children's Fund accommodation. Both boys are cared for by aunts who act as parents: Maha brought Omar out of Gaza and left her teenage children behind, while Sobhiye vowed to raise Ali after her family was killed. Both boys await prosthetic arms and rebuild small rituals of childhood.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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