Layan al-Baz cried in agony when the effect fades of the painkillers she received after her legs were amputated, the result of a strike on Gaza as Israel fights Hamas.
"I don't want a false leg," the 13-year-old Palestinian told AFP in Khan Yunis's Nasser hospital, in southern Gaza, where getting artificial limbs was nearly impossible anyway.
The impoverished Palestinian territory, under an Israeli-led blockade for years and besieged since war erupted on 7 October, suffers severe shortages of food, water and fuel, and medical supplies are scarce.
"I want them to put my legs back, they can do it," Layan said in desperation from her bed at Nasser's paediatric ward.
Every time she opens her eyes as the painkillers wear off, she sees her bandaged stumps.
Her mother, Lamia al-Baz, 47, said Layan was wounded last week in a strike on Al-Qarara district of Khan Yunis, part of Israel's military campaign in response to Hamas attacks on 7 October that Israeli officials said killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, nearly 9,500 people have been killed in Gaza since the war erupted, including at least 3,900 children.
Four of them were relatives of Layan, killed in the strike that caused her legs to be amputated, her mother said.
Ms Al-Baz said two of her daughters, Ikhlas and Khitam, and two grandchildren including a newborn baby were killed when the Israeli strike hit Ikhlas's home.
The family were there to support Ikhlas who had just given birth.
"Their bodies were in shreds," Ms Al-Baz said, who had to identify her daughters' bodies at a morgue.
"I identified Khitam by her earrings and Ikhlas by her toes," she added.
Layan, her face and arms covered with injuries, asked: "How will I return to school when my friends walk and I can't?"
Ms Al-Baz responded: "I will be by your side. It will all be fine. You still have a future ahead of you."
'I'm still alive'
At the hospital's burns unit, 14-year-old Lama al-Agha and her sister Sara, 15, lay in adjacent beds.
They were treated following a 12 October strike that killed Sara's twin Sama and brother Yahya, 12, their mother said, as she sat between the two hospital beds and struggled to hold back tears.
Stitches and burn scars were visible on Lama's half-shaved head and her forehead.
"When they transferred me here, I asked the nurses to help me sit up and I discovered that my leg was amputated," the 14-year-old recalled.
"I've been through a lot of pain but I thank God that I'm still alive," she added.
Lama is determined not to let her injury decide her future.
"I'll get an artificial leg and continue my studies, so I can achieve my dream of becoming a doctor. I will be strong for me and for my family," she said.
Hospital director Dr Nahed Abu Taaema explained that due to the massive number of casualties and dwindling resources, medics are often left with no choice but to amputate limbs to prevent life-threatening complications.
"We have to choose between saving a patient's life or putting it at risk while trying to save their injured leg," Dr Abu Taaema said.
'Where is my leg?'
Ahmad Abu Shahmah, 14, wearing a green football jersey and matching shorts, used crutches to walk around the ruins of his family's home in Khan Yunis.
Surrounded by several of his cousins, Ahmad is in the courtyard where he used to play football.
But the building was destroyed in a strike that killed six of his cousins and an aunt.
"When I woke up (after surgery) I asked my brother, 'where is my leg?'" he recalled.
"He lied to me and said it was right there, and that I couldn't feel it because of the anaesthetics."
The following day, "my cousin told me the truth," Ahmed said.
"I cried a lot. The first thing I thought about was that I will no longer be able to walk or play football like I would every day. I signed up to an academy one week before the war," he added.
Ahmed supports FC Barcelona, while his cousins are fans of Real Madrid.
One of them, Farid Abu Shahmah, said that if he "could turn back time and return Ahmad his leg, I'd be ready to give up Real and become a Barcelona fan like him."
