If we listen to world leaders, we could be lulled into believing that Rafah has been a place of safety. But this city, nestled in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, has been on the threshold of terror since Israel launched its genocidal assault on October 7. The daily toll of genocide and destruction has been devastating even without a ground invasion.
Six months ago, an Israeli air strike targeted the home of my relative Ayman in Rafah. It was October 21, and the whole family were at home preparing to celebrate the birthdays of his children Sham and Adam; Sham was turning nine and Adam three.
Ayman had gone upstairs to check if the water tank was filled when the bombs fell, killing his two children, two of his sisters-in-law, their five children and four other relatives.
Ayman’s wife, Dareen, was critically wounded in the attack. She was hanging clothes on the balcony when the rocket struck the building hurling her to the other side of the street. When Ayman reached her, she was still breathing. She pleaded with him to rescue their baby girl.
As she was dying, Dareen was rushed to the hospital in a desperate bid to save their unborn child. Doctors fought valiantly, performing a caesarean section to bring to this cruel world a fragile baby.
Ayman named her Mecca, as they had agreed with Dareen. However, her mother’s death and the lack of oxygen had already taken their toll. Mecca struggled for three days, her tiny body ravaged by convulsions. On the third day, she too passed away. All that was left of their family was a father with a broken heart and a date of birth and a date of departure seared into his soul.
Since October, many families in Rafah have met the horrific fate of Ayman’s family. Israel’s slaughter from the air never subsided, even as it ordered more than a million people in the north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate south.
Instead of safety, Palestinians who fled south found death once again raining on them. In a recent weekend, dozens were killed, most of them children.
On Friday, April 19, Israel bombarded Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood where the Radwan and Joudah families had sought shelter. Abdel-Fattah Radwan, his wife Najlaa Aweidah, and their three children Leen, Nadya and Amer died. Also killed were Abdel-Fattah’s sister, Rawan, and her five-year-old daughter Alaa. Hamza and Sama Zaqout were visiting the apartment to play with the other children. They also died.
On Saturday, April 20, Israeli bombs wiped out most of the Abdel Aal family: 15 children and their mothers Yasmeen, Sujoud and Rasha as well as their grandmother Hamdeh. The loss was staggering – all the family children perished in an instant. The innocent lives of Sidra, Mohammed, Layan, Yasser, Muhannad, Osama, Ismail, Ahmad, Sajida, Shahd, Abdullah, Yasser, Othman, Ismail and Mahmoud were cut short in an instant. The place of safety became a graveyard in the blink of an eye.
Source: Aljazeera
