By Press TV Staff Writer
An ardent Gaming YouTuber from the besieged Gaza Strip, 13-year-old Awni Eldous had a long-cherished dream – to hit the 100,000 subscribers mark on his YouTube channel.
The profile image on the channel shows the Palestinian boy holding a DSLR camera, pointing to his tremendous passion for photography and video blogging.
In August last year, he posted a video in which he thanked his subscribers for helping his channel reach 1,000 subscribers and excitedly spoke about his goal of reaching 100,000 subscribers.
“I am Awni Eldous, a Palestinian from Gaza. I am 12 years old,” the boy with a big grin on his face said.
“The goal of this channel is to reach 100,000 subscribers. And 500,000, then 1 million, and God willing to reach 10 million subscribers with your support and love,” he hastened to add.
In late October, an Israeli airstrike targeted his home in northern Gaza, killing him and his entire family.
The 13-year-old gamer and YouTuber, who had set his eyes on 100,000 subscribers, now has over 1.35 million people subscribing to his channel with just 10 videos.
His dream came true, albeit posthumously, as people around the world paid tribute to him through his YouTube channel @awnieldous141.
The comments section of the channel has poignant messages left by his subscribers, with some asking for forgiveness for not helping the young Palestinian boy achieve his goal while he was alive.
AboFlah, a prominent YouTuber with 34.1M subscribers and someone Eldous looked for inspiration, also posted a video expressing grief over the young Palestinian’s killing.
Since his untimely death three weeks ago, his Instagram page has also clocked 91.7k followers.
More than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed in the besieged coastal territory since October 7, when the Israeli regime launched its indiscriminate bombing campaign on the densely populated strip.
Most of the victims have been children such as Eldous, whose lives have been brutally cut short.
Social media users have paid emotional tribute to the little Palestinian martyr.
“Awni Eldous is one of the thousands of Palestinian children who are martyrs of Israeli genocide against Gazans and Palestinians in general. Please call for an end to this occupation,” wrote one user.
“And please do not lose hope for a Free Palestine. For Awni and for Palestine!!!”
