Farewell notes in a deadly period

Amr’s mother Suhad Khamour holds her son’s jacket in their house in Bethlehem in the West Bank. His parents found his “will” on his cellphone. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

BEFORE Amr Khamour, 14, was killed, shot twice by Israeli troops as he hurled stones at a military jeep in his hometown, he spent his time dancing with friends, recording TikTok videos on his phone.

But after his death in January, his parents found a photograph of a handwritten farewell message on his phone. “If I come to you a martyr, God willing,” he wrote his mother, “don’t cry. And forgive me for every mistake I made.”