In the early hours of the morning, 12-year-old Mo’tasem Al-Sarsak begins preparing pastries with his family in their tent at Al-Nuseirat refugee camp.
They arrange them on large trays and carry them to a local bakery to be baked. Afterwards, Mo’tasem roams the streets and markets calling out, “Fresh ka’ak!”
He spends long hours under the scorching sun, holding the pastry basket with his thin arms, hoping to sell enough to help feed his family.

This isn’t a festive tradition, but a desperate effort to support his family amidst the suffocating conditions imposed by war and displacement.
A child who should be carrying a schoolbag, not a tray of ka’ak.

In Gaza, child labor continues to rise as the crisis deepens, forcing thousands of children into early work just to secure the basics of life.
What Mo’tasem does is not an exception it’s a heartbreaking image of a childhood stripped of its basics like school and play and replaced by burdens far beyond his years.