“Dalia’s face charts the pain of Gaza’s children. But also the unrelenting beauty and courage of a generation that seems determined to withstand the seemingly insurmountable hardships,” commented Ramzy Baroud, Palestinian author and journalist.

“The fact that life never stood still for the nine year old girl, that she is back at school, although the shrapnel have dotted every inch of her frail body is a testament to Gaza’s unbreakable will after the war, that there can be no defeat if there is no surrender,” he added.

Asad, who reported extensively on the plight of civilians during Israel’s 2014 military offensive, had endured having his own house blown up by an Israeli strike.

On a separate occasion, he was spared being hit by an Israeli drone missile that landed a few metres away from him, killing one child and injuring two people.

“Mohammed Asad is a gifted photographer. He reports on a story on which he is part; charts the suffering that he lives, and paints the wounded faces, as that of Dalia, as he too carries the scars of war and abandonment,” said Baroud.

“Dalia and Mohammed are the enduring hope of Gaza.”

– Read more: Dalia Khalifa: Gaza’s ‘Unbreakable’ Girl – Middle East Eye