Trampling over the debris of the demolished home, Ibrahim Hasouna pointed out the spots where cherished memories had occurred – where his mother and sister-in-law once slept, where he engaged in playdates with his five-year-old nieces, where he assisted his one-year-old nephew in taking his first steps.
Now all of his family members were dead: his parents, his two brothers, and one of those brothers’ wives and three kids.
Under Israeli airplanes’ onslaught of bombings over Rafah before dawn on Monday, in support of forces freeing two hostages elsewhere in the town on the southern Gaza border, the house was reduced to rubble on top of them.
Large tracts of structures and tents housing families were destroyed by the bombardment, which claimed the lives of at least 74 Palestinians.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, whose researchers gathered the list from Rafah hospitals, among the dead were 22 women and 27 children.
As Israel warns of the Rafah invasion, one aid worker claims that Palestinians have lost their “last sense of safety.”
As peace negotiations continue, concerns are raised by Israel’s military operation in Rafah.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry on Monday, over 12,300 Palestinian children and young teens have died as a result of the Israeli offensive, which has had a severe toll on women and children.
A month earlier, the 30-year-old Ibrahim, his parents, and his brothers had made their way to Rafah, the latest in a string of desperate attempts to avoid conflict after abandoning their homes in northern Gaza.
