How The 13-Year-Old Awni Eldous, A "Palestinian From Gaza" Found His Fame After Death (image: screengrab from YouTube @ awni eldous)
Stories from the war battered Palestine which has been under the occupation for more than 70 years are always heart touching. Since the beginning of the current bloody war, Palestinians touched the souls of millions across the globe. Among them is the story of the 13-year-old Awni Eldous, who was a YouTuber and wanted to hit 10 million subscribers in YouTube with good contents. He was killed by the Israeli airstrike on October 7th.
Eldous was known for his love for computers and gaming. In August this year, he posted a video on his YouTube channel thanking his followers for the 1000 subscribers. He revealed his ultimate goal of gaining 10 million followers during the video. He said, “I am Awni Eldous, a Palestinian from Gaza”. He loved car racing, shooting, battle and football video games. He said, “God willing, to reach 10 million subscribers with your support and love”. He ended his video with “peace out” sign.
After he was killed in October, netizens took it upon themselves to help Awni reach one of his goal of hitting a million for his YouTube channel. His comment session was filled with condolences and apologies for not assisting him in gaining his goal while he was alive.
Awni was a fan of YouTuber AboFlah, who came to know about Awni only after his death. Upon hearing about the Palestinian boy from another YouTuber, AbuFlah checked his account and saw that Awni was his follower. Awni has messaged the YouTuber that read, “I swear, I love you and your videos. Keep going legend”. AbuFlah felt emotional and said he wished Awni did not texted him as he could not bear the heartbreak upon seeing the messages this late. AbuFlah could not hold himself back as he was seen weeping in his video.
Awni send several messages to the YouTuber, including “Your voice is so beautiful”, “nothing compares to Palestine’s winter in Gaza, the atmosphere is legendary. It is so good. We are also eating charcoal-roasted chestnut”. “I hope you come to Palestine, much love”, “you are a role model and a legend”. The sweet little Palestinian sent messages like, “may God bless you” to his favourite YouTuber. In his emotional video, AbuFlah called for making Awni’s dream come true by helping him reach 1 million subscribers in YouTube. He ended his video by apologising to Awni for not seeing his messages the day when he sent.
Awni Eldous was killed when Israelis bombed his home on October 7.. 15 members of his family lost their life in that bombing including Awni. His aunt, who survived the bombing told media that Awni was a happy, confident and helpful boy who would always hold the door open for her. Another family member called him “engineer Awni”, as he loved computers very much. His father was a computer engineer. Alaa, Awni’s aunt said she remembered him always imitating his father in pulling apart laptops and trying to piece them back together. More than 20,424 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli occupation force since October 7th. Most of those killed were children and women.
