Puppet puts spotlight on plight of Gaza children

Palestinian puppet maker, Yousef Al-Hindi, is using his art to put the spotlight on the suffering of the people of Gaza, especially the children, Anadolu Agency reports.

He designed a marionette, a puppet manipulated with strings, to send a message to the world on behalf of the children in Gaza.

“I am trying to design a puppet which will send messages to the world on the rights of Palestinian children, especially their right to live in dignity,” he told Anadolu.

Once the puppet is ready, he will perform shows at various shelters housing the displaced Palestinians.

“I want to bring joy to the children. They are hope,” he said.

Due to the scarcity of materials needed to build the puppet, he used bread dough to make its body.

“I used whatever I could find. I used cork, pieces of iron and nylon.”

His workshop was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, he said.

“In a few days, the puppet will have a clear shape … curly, beautiful hair.”

He said he would name it Yousef after a 7-year-old who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City in October.

The dead boy’s mother recognised his body from his curly hair, he said.

The video went viral on social media.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since a 7 October attack by Hamas in which Tel Aviv says nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

At least 27,585 Palestinians have been killed and 66,978 others injured in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

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