'I wanted to never let go': Gazan boy reunited with father after attack that killed his family

ITV News Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo reports on the long-awaited reunion between father and son in Qatar

Watching 11-year-old Abdullah playing football, you wouldn't know that six months ago he was found bandaged, badly burned, and in a lot of pain on the Gaza border.

His injuries required urgent treatment and he was evacuated to Doha in Qatar for surgery.

Abdullah was injured in an airstrike while on a bus in Gaza - his mother, sister and one of his brothers were killed in the same attack.

"The family was trying to flee Gaza," Abdullah's aunt previously told ITV News, referring to the December attack.

"They were told to leave west Gaza to go to the east, and then from the east to the west. And then, they targeted them."

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His father was still alive, but remained in Gaza while Abdullah was airlifted to Doha for treatment.

When ITV News first met Abdullah, it was clear that it wasn't just medical assistance that he needed.

"Bring me my father, bring him to me," he said repeatedly.

"I still need so much surgery, so many surgeries and I need him by my side."

So ITV News tried to find his father in Gaza.

Eventually, a bus arrived in Qatar, and one of the passengers was Abdullah's father Yousef, who had managed to keep his arrival a surprise.

"We were so happy. I called Abdullah - I didn't tell him I was going to Qatar, but I asked him what he would like me to get him from Egypt if I could come to Qatar. I wanted to keep it a surprise for him," Yousef said.

Abdullah was ecstatic to be reunited with his father.

"When I first saw him and he was on the bus I realised how much I have missed him. I just felt I wanted to hug him, I really missed him," he said.

"I just really wanted to be able to touch him and give him a hug and never let go."

Abdullah has also reached a point in his treatment where he is able to play football like other boys his age.

"I don't feel pain anymore, look how far I've come - pain didn't leave me at any moment, now I feel no pain at all," he said.

Abdullah's eldest brother, Mohammed, is the only other surviving member of their family, and he hasn't been able to join Yousef and Abdullah in Doha.

"We lived once as one family with my mother and my siblings. We loved each other and lived in peace just like any other family, we were happy. But then the war came. And then everything changed," Abdullah said.

Now that Abdullah is healthy, having survived the fatal airstrike that took away half of his family, all he, his father and brother want is to be reunited at home in a peaceful Gaza.

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