‘A MASSACRE with the full meaning of the word,’ took place in Gaza City’s Shujayea district yesterday, when Israel carried out an attack that killed at least 29 people and left 80 others missing.
Israeli warplanes targeted residential blocks, inflicting complete devastation on the Shujayea neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City.
Residents who survived came together to try and get the trapped victims out of the rubble – among them children and women, while Israeli drones hovered over the area, threatening the hundreds of people engaged in the rescue efforts.
Most of the people killed had been forcibly displaced to the area and ended up being targeted and brutally killed in unprecedented destruction since Israel resumed its war on Gaza after breaking the ceasefire with Hamas last month.
Ayub Salim, 26, a Shujayea resident, described the massive Israeli attack: ‘The area was hit with multiple missiles. Shrapnel flew in all directions in a terrifying and indescribable scene. Dust and massive destruction filled the entire place. We couldn’t see anything, just the screams and panic of the people. The dead were torn to pieces. Even now, emergency crews are still transporting the dead and the injured. It is truly a horrific massacre. Civil defence teams are struggling to retrieve them all.’
The dozens of missing in the attack are believed buried in the rubble of at least 10 residential buildings that were blown up.
More witnesses described the horror of Israel’s bombing of Shujayea.
‘We were talking in the street and suddenly we were shocked to see the building’s bricks flying apart – in addition to flying hands and feet,’ one man said.
Another survivor added: ‘It is a massacre with the full meaning of the word. I haven’t seen or heard about a massacre like this since the start of the war. Most of the martyrs are children and defenceless civilians. I don’t know what more the Israelis are planning for us. We need this bloodshed to come to an end. This is not fair, enough is enough.’
Hamas said in a statement: ‘The ongoing massacres against our people, with American support, are a stain on the international community’s face. The brutal crimes committed in full view of the world against innocent, defenceless civilians will not go unpunished and will not be forgotten.’
Hamas also criticised the ‘timid’ response of Arab and Muslim nations, saying: ‘It is unacceptable to leave our people alone in this fateful confrontation without real support that rises to the challenge and the crime.’
• The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the Israeli occupation authorities’ closure of six UNRWA schools in occupied Jerusalem. In a statement, the OIC warned it will deprive Palestinian refugee children of their basic right to education and is an attempt to impose the Israeli curriculum on them.
