The attack in Nuserat was one of 60 “fatal airstrikes” reported overnight
Gaza Nouserat:
The Tabatibi family, displaced by Israeli bombings, gathered for a meal in central Gaza on the first Friday night of Ramadan, a reunion that quickly turned into a bloodbath.
Witnesses told AFP on Saturday that as the women were preparing a pre-fast meal, the building where they were staying was hit by an airstrike, killing 36 family members.
The health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza gave the same death toll and blamed Israel for the Nuserat attack, as did survivors.
Asked about Saturday’s attack, the Israeli military said it targeted two “terrorists” in Nuserat “throughout the night” but did not elaborate.
“The circumstances of the incident remain under review,” it said.
Mohammed al-Tabatibi, 19, stood in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital near Deir Bala, where the bodies of his relatives lay.
“This is my mother, this is my father, this is my aunt, this is my brother,” said a tearful Tabatibi, who injured his left hand during the strike.
“They bombed the house while we were there. My mother and aunt were preparing suhoor. They were all martyred,” he added, before the bodies were piled on a truck to be transported to the cemetery.
AFP footage showed some of the dead – including at least two children – being wrapped in blood-stained white cloth because there were not enough body bags.
The first Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Monday, passed peacefully in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem despite concerns over tensions at the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
But the situation in Gaza is different.
The attack in Nuseirat was one of 60 “deadly airstrikes” reported overnight by the Hamas government press office, ranging from Gaza City in the north to Rafah in the south.
“This was a bloody night, a very bloody night,” said Salama Ma’ruf of the Hamas government media office.
‘Look at the extent of the damage’
According to an AFP tally of Israeli data, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, triggering the outbreak of the Gaza war and killing about 1,160 people, mostly civilians.
Israel’s retaliatory military operations to destroy Hamas have killed at least 31,553 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled areas.
Most of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have sought asylum in Rafah, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday he had approved plans for a military operation there, raising fears of more bloodshed. .
Even before any such operations began, however, airstrikes continued, including early Saturday when witnesses said they killed a mosque muezzin, Issa Duhair, and two of his men. A son.
Mahmoud Duhair, a 41-year-old relative who lives nearby, described the muezzin as “a good man” who, as usual, dutifully performed the pre-dawn prayers on Saturday and then “served as his house Being hit”.
Back in Nuserat, central Gaza, Yussef Tabatibi said the true number of attacks that killed 36 of his family members was likely to rise.
“We cannot retrieve some of the martyrs. We lack equipment, bulldozers, machinery or anything else,” he told AFP, his hands and sweatshirt covered in dust from clearing the rubble.
“We had to pick them up with our hands. We brought shovels and hammers but they were of no use. Look at the extent of the damage.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
