A Plate of Shawarma, and Then the Sky Fell

By Malak Radwan

The table was set. The bread still soft. The meat still steaming. But Ashraf never came home.

On the morning of August 13, 2024, Ashraf sat in a small café in Deir al-Balah, sipping his coffee, perhaps thinking of his upcoming engineering exams at Al-Azhar University.

He was in his third year, counting the days until graduation, dreaming of the moment he would finally make his mother proud. But in an instant, an Israeli airstrike turned his dreams to dust.

‏Ashraf…