As other schoolchildren raise their hands to answer a question at the math class in Asmaa Elementary School in northern Gaza City, nine-year-old Aya Masoud jacks up her foot toes.

The go-getting girl was born without arms in 1999 in a family of seven children. She grew up and joined school, thanks to her parents who changed their daily life in order to let the girl feel normal.

After she answers the question, she sits down beside her special desk, which is lower than the other regular tables to enable her to open books and write with her feet.

Aya is a fantastic girl, with a strong will and determination to survive in the most difficult situation.

Sana Zaqout, the principal of the school, said she has been monitoring Aya since she joined the school four years ago.

"Her level is more than good, actually it is very good." However, Zaqout notices that Aya "is getting tired easily since she depends on her feet to do everything in her life."

Aya is an extraordinary example of how even small children in the Gaza Strip can survive under the most difficult circumstances.

A psychologist at Aya's governmental school said the girl visited her office only three times since the beginning of the school year "to complain about ordinary annoying acts by her classmates, unlike other students who visit this office so much."

Despite international laws to protect rights of the children, Palestinian children are still the innocent victims of an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza, sandwiched between Israel and Egypt, is under the Israeli siege and an international embargo since January of 2006 when Hamas scored a surprising victory in the Palestinian legislative elections.

The Hamas-run coastal strip, home to nearly 1.5 million residents, heavily depends on outside aid inflow of almost everything, from basic foodstuffs to medicine.

The Gaza children's rights to seek protection from violence, training and education, has been inevitably endangered.

Aya accepts the idea of living without arms. "My arms went past me to the paradise," she said with a soft, shy smile. "I do everything using my legs and feet. I rarely ask for help."

The girl is determined to go ahead with her education to become a teacher. "I love my religion teacher, Ms. Nariman. She is amazing with a great personality and that's why I want to be like her."

Aya's father Wael said "Our life was only having fun but when we got Aya everything has changed." He explained that having such a girl "taught us to be realistic, responsible and closer to our God."

"We focused on raising Aya and make her feel everything is usual," he added.

Wael, who lost his job in 2003, said he was annoyed because relief organizations in Gaza did not offer any help or care for his daughter.

According to the psychologist, who asked her name not to be disclosed, Aya needs advanced medical care rather than psychological treatment. "We started to discover that she has something affecting the functions of her internal parts."

Aya continues the life in her own way. "I got used to me life; I don't even ask for help when I go to the rest room. ... but sometimes I ask for help when carrying my school bag."