Near her torn tent, the mother found that the old plastic tub she once used for washing clothes had turned into a way to save her daughter from the cruelty of life. Water was no longer available as before, and a few liters collected from a broken faucet or after long hours of waiting in line were all she could manage to provide for her little one.

Amid this deprivation, she chose to make the tub a place for her child to bathe, trying to grant her a fleeting moment of cleanliness and comfort in a world drowned in ashes.

Mothers of Gaza create miracles The little girl sat inside the tub, sometimes smiling and sometimes shivering, while the mother tried to distract her from the cramped space and the scarcity of water by humming a soft tune or telling a short story about the days of peace. Those simple moments made the child feel she was still safe in her mother’s embrace, even as everything around them spoke of ruin and deprivation.

But behind this small human scene lay a greater tragedy. The war had not only demolished homes, but also stolen from families the most basic necessities of life: water and food. The mother often had to choose between using water for drinking or bathing, between offering her daughter a morsel to ease her hunger or cleansing her fragile body. Every decision became a silent battle inside her heart, unseen by anyone.

Holding on to hope Yet the mother clung to hope. She believed her daughter needed to see a glimpse of purity and beauty amidst the ugliness. She cleaned the tub with a worn-out cloth and filled it with the little water she had, as if it were a vast sea—wanting her daughter to feel that life could still offer a moment of joy, even if fleeting.

In this mother’s eyes, the true meaning of resilience was embodied. While war destroyed bodies and drained resources, she was still able to create a small space of humanity inside a modest plastic tub. There, beneath the rubble of her home, she crafted rituals of life from the scarcity of water and food, planting in her daughter’s heart a hidden message: that love alone can defeat devastation.