Israeli warplanes fired three missiles at a residential building at the intersection of Al-Ternis Street in the middle of Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip around 11:30 a.m on October 9, killing 69 Palestinians, including at least 15 children, according to documentation collected by DCIP. (Photo: DCIP / Mohammad Abu Rukbeh)
Palestinians and Israelis have grown accustomed to wars in the south in recent years. But the war that began in the early hours of Saturday, 7 October is nothing like the others. In a startling assault, scores or hundreds of Hamas operatives, under a hail of rockets, crossed the Israel-Gaza separation barrier into Israeli towns near the blockaded strip: some seem to have broken through weak points in the metal fences, others went by boat along the Mediterranean coast, some flew paramotors over the walls. A Hamas unit targeted the Erez Crossing, the only civilian checkpoint between Gaza and Israel, seizing it from army control for several hours. By sunrise, Palestinian gunmen were roaming the streets of Sderot, Nir Oz and other kibbutzim, breaking into civilian homes, fighting with security forces and firing in all directions. An overnight desert rave, inexplicably organised in the border region, was also attacked.
Yazan Ahmad Abdulnaser Shamlakh, 10, was killed by an Israeli airstrike on October 8 alongside his brothers Abdulnaser, two, and Omar, five months, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine. (Photo: Courtesy of the Shamlkah family)
Palestinian armed groups infiltrated Israel on 7 October, killing and capturing hundreds of Israeli civilians and members of the Israeli forces while indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets into Israel.
On 8 October, the Government of Israel declared war, launching intensive air strikes into the densely populated Gaza Strip over the past three days. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and over two thousand now injured. The magnitude of the ongoing hostilities has led to grave humanitarian consequences. Homes, schools, medical facilities, and other infrastructure have been damaged and destroyed.
Over the past two days, the Israeli army has conducted a relentless series of attacks by air, sea, and land against the civilian population in Gaza, destroying dozens of houses with their residents still inside, residential and commercial buildings—often without issuing precautionary warnings—and wiping out entire Palestinian families. Mosques and medical facilities have also come under attack.
In a few days Israelis went through what Palestinians have experienced as a matter of routine for decades, and are still experiencing – military incursions, death, cruelty, slain children, bodies piled up in the road, siege, fear, anxiety over loved ones, captivity, being targets of vengeance, indiscriminate lethal fire at both those involved in the fighting (soldiers) and the uninvolved (civilians), a position of inferiority, destruction of buildings, ruined holidays or celebrations, weakness and helplessness in the face of all-powerful armed men, and searing humiliation.
On Saturday, Hamas committed a shocking crime whose horrifying dimensions are slowly becoming clear. Hundreds of Palestinian militants entered Israeli territory and opened fire indiscriminately, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring thousands. They burned down homes with the occupants inside and kidnapped more than 100 people – including children, women and elderly people – to be used as bargaining chips. Many others are still missing, their fate unknown.
Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinian children across the occupied West Bank on October 8 and 9: Yousef Nader Sulieman Idris, 16, (left) Imad Jareh Majed Adaily, 16 (center left), Yaser Thaer Sami Kasba, 17, (center right) and Adam Amjad Fathi Al-Juliani, 17, (right), according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine. (Photos: Courtesy of the families).
The Shaban family was killed by an Israeli airstrike on their home in the Al-Nasr neighborhood north of Gaza City on October 8, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine. From left to right: Omar, 11, Batoul, 7, Ghada, 10, and Ahmad Nazir Shawqi Shaban. (Photos: Courtesy of the Shaban family)
Palestinians have long warned that Israel’s blockade and repeated aggressions would eventually lead to an explosion. But few of us in Gaza expected this.
