Palestinians gather as rescuers search for victims at the site of a house destroyed by Israeli airstrikes at the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, May 15, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

A member of MECA partner Youth Vision Society writes from Al-Shati Refugee Camp where Israeli attacks killed 10 people last night including 8 children

The children Suhaib, Osama, Yehya, and Abdel-Rahman Al-Hadidi, and their mother Maha left the neighborhood and went to visit a relative nearby yesterday. Then the house was violently bombed and totally destroyed by the Israeli occupation’s missiles. Horribly and sadly, eight innocent children were killed; their small bodies torn into pieces in a blink of an eye. From under the rubble, the Civil Defense Forces pulled out what was left of their bodies.

All of the families and children in the neighborhood have been severely traumatized. This massacre is cruelly inhuman, unbelievable, and unbearable. Tears are endless and unstoppable and a scary atmosphere dominates. The scene of their father, my neighbor, Abu Suhaib, standing in front of the scattered bodies of his four dead children and wife portrays farewell in its cruelest ways. “Where is Abdel-Rahman? Where is Osama?” he cried out, perplexedly looking at his dead sons because he was unable to identify their bloodied faces! The sound of his loud crying should reach the whole world.

We prayed for these ten friends and neighbors and bid them farewell on the way to their graves. But when I returned to my house, the neighborhood children were waiting for their return! I glanced at the doorstep where these four boys are usually sitting and playing and found it empty. A weirdly silent atmosphere has settled in the neighborhood – everyone is speechless. No words can express the horror and pain of the massacre.

Goodbye, innocent birds. Rest peacefully in heaven. Your blood will perpetually be a witness to the despicable crimes of the occupation. We will never forget you.