Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine – After suffering through three days of Israeli airstrikes and assassinations, children in the Gaza Strip enjoyed the presence of clowns and puppets. Two days after a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, dozens of neighborhood children participated in a day of joy and entertainment while standing over the rubble of destroyed houses.

“It’s an indescribable feeling for children, frankly their psychology is very destroyed.”

Ahmed Jarbou, director of Alwan Entertainment Team

Activists distributed toys and gifts to children while clowns and puppets entertained them in attempts to help ease some of the psychological trauma they’ve recently been exposed to as a result of the deadly conflict in Gaza.

At least 49 Palestinians were killed in the three days of hostilities that Israel called Operation Breaking Dawn. “Many of those killed during the war were children,” said Ahmed Jarbou, the director of Alwan Entertainment Team. Children accounted for at least 17 of the 49 deaths. The death toll has risen over the past few days as some of the wounded have succumbed to their injuries.

“We are here today to help unload the psychological terror from the children,” Jarbou said. He added that their mission was to “revive them again” and to come up with ways to help children return to some form of normalcy.

“Children are terrified from the recent war on the Gaza Strip, we are trying to support them with ourselves as well as with clowns and puppets.”

Ahmed Jarbou

Acting as a clown during the event, Abdel Mansour said he was happy to be with the kids and hoped they were happy with them. He continued, “No matter the war and the circumstances they went through, we came to make them happy.”

From August 5-7, Israeli airstrikes targeted leaders and sites of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement in the Gaza Strip. See Unicorn Riot’s full coverage, including videos, of Operation Breaking Dawn through each day, along with the celebrations after the ceasefire and the fuel reentry into Gaza.

For more from Palestine, see below.

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