This bloodshed, too, was explained away by the Israeli army .

 This bloodshed, too, was explained away by the Israeli army as being down to “a network of Hamas tunnels that ran under the street.”

Buthaynah Na’im al-Qumo’, a 47-year-old mother of five who lived in the Abu al-’Oaf building with her family, lost her husband in the attack. Her searing testimony describes the moments of terror during the assault when her house was shelled and they were buried under the rubble.

“The wall and the roof fell on me, and the wardrobe fell on [my son] Muhammad. I asked Muhammad if he had his phone and he said yes. He called his uncle Hassan al-Qumo’ and his sister Ghadir. He told them, ‘Our house has been bombed and were buried under the rubble. We can’t hear Dad’s voice.’

IDF Artillery Corps were seen firing into Gaza, May 19, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

“I started to choke because of the debris from the roof covering me. I had no air. Muhammad tried to help me out, but he couldn’t. We stayed under the rubble for almost three hours. Muhammad held his phone up with a stick to help the rescue team locate us.”

Al-Qumo’ passed out and awoke in the hospital. She did not find out that her husband had been killed until after she’d been released.

“I was discharged from hospital and when I asked again to see my husband, they told me that it would be better to go home first and come later to see him. I went to my parents’ house, changed clothes and told my family that I wanted to go back to the hospital. I noticed their expressions were strange. I asked them if anything had happened, because I felt something was wrong. I said, ‘Tell me what happened.’

“My sister Sanaa hugged me and said, ‘Be strong. May God give you patience and compensate you.’ I collapsed immediately because I understood Hazem had been killed. I immediately went to his parent's house, where I saw him. He looked like he was asleep as if he would wake up any time soon. I hugged him and screamed, ‘Wake up, Hazem!’ My children broke down. Those were the most harrowing moments we’ve ever been through.

“I pray for God to have mercy on us and help me bear this loss. The Israeli military attacked our home for no reason. They didn’t even warn us before the bombing. Suddenly, our house blew up while we were inside. I keep thinking, why did they even bomb our house and rob me of my husband and the children of their father?”

‘A little girl just starting her life’

During those hellish 11 days in Gaza, death lurked not only between the walls of people’s homes in multi-story buildings but also in the street.

On May 19, Dima ‘Aaliyah, 10, was killed by an Israeli missile fired east of the Jabaliya refugee camp. Her mother, Dina ‘Aaliyah, recounts how that same evening she wanted to take advantage of an unexpected supply of electricity in order to bake bread, and so she sent Dima to her sister’s house to fetch an electric baking pan. Dima, she recalls, left clutching candy.

“After 10 minutes, I heard a very loud explosion by the house. The windows shattered, including in the kitchen. I was terrified. I said I was leaving and taking Dima to the UNRWA school. My husband said I should go to his brother’s house before there was another attack. I went to get dressed, and then I heard someone say something about Dima. I rushed outside and saw a car driving away. My husband Sa’ed was standing there, and then he told me Dima had been killed. I collapsed. I was in shock. I started reciting: ‘We are the servants of Allah, and our fate is to return to him.’ Everyone around me was praying and I wept.”

Palestinians attend the funeral of 10 members of the Abu-Hatab family, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza City, May 15, 2021. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)

Dina says that her daughter had been very frightened by the shelling and earlier that day had begged her parents to go to one of the school shelters that had been opened. But her father, who recalled how those improvised shelters had become targets during the 2014 war, was afraid to take his family there. In the end, the missile found Dima meters from her home.

“I keep thinking, how did she stand the pain?” asks Dina. “What exactly happened to her when the missile hit her? Did it hurt? Did she call for her father or for me? What was she doing at that moment? I can’t get those questions out of my head. It’s a nightmare I can’t shake.”

Still torn by grief, Dina says: “Dima was a target in the Israeli military’s target bank. That’s their target bank, a little girl just starting her life.”