What happened to the boy who saw his grandmother killed while waving a white flag?

In a flash, everything changed for the Abd al-Aati family.

In early November, as Palestinians fled the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City following relentless Israeli bombardment, matriarch Hala grabbed her grandson Taim, who was holding a white flag, a universal symbol of surrender, and they tried to make their way south.

As they passed through an evacuation route that had been declared safe, the unthinkable happened. While holding her grandson's hand, a shot rang out and Hala collapsed to the ground.

According to exclusive footage of the killing obtained by Middle East Eye, Taim was seen running towards a group of people who had been forced to take a different route to reach safety. His parents stayed behind, trying to provide his grandmother with urgent medical aid.

This marked the beginning of a year of torment for the Abd al-Aati family, during which their lives became a roller coaster.

After being separated from his son for a staggering seven months and suffering countless rounds of displacement, Yousef Abd al-Aati recalled the fateful events of that day and described the impact of the separation and a year of war on his son.

"On 12 November 2023, the tanks reached our area and surrounded us, so we tried to flee. My mother-in-law was holding our son Taim’s hand, who was waving a white flag [as we crossed the street]. She was shot by a sniper and died immediately," Yousef Abd al-Ati told MEE.

"Amid the chaos of the situation, my son, Taim, was taken by some people who were also heading south and remained separated from us for seven months," he said.