In Pictures
Israel bombs mosque in Gaza, hitting families sheltering nearby
One woman was killed and 20 people were injured in the makeshift tent encampment in Deir el-Balah.
Published On 5 Mar 2024
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – At dawn on Saturday, Israeli aircraft bombed a mosque next to makeshift tents housing displaced people in the city of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
The bombing resulted in the killing of a young woman and left 20 others injured. They were transferred to the city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
The 33-year-old woman, Walaa Saada, was known for her community and humanitarian efforts during the war. She was killed in her tent while she was sleeping next to her mother, Yosra Abu Saada, who was injured in the attack.
“My daughter Walaa and I had dinner together before I went to bed.” Yosra told Al Jazeera. “Walaa stayed awake working on some lists of displaced people in need on her laptop.”
Suddenly, Yosra woke up to piles of stones raining down on her from the bombing, while dust covered their surroundings and their tent collapsed on them.
“I did not realise what was happening around me. I thought I was dreaming, but I controlled myself and started calling my daughter Walaa, but she did not answer.”
“People and paramedics rushed to our aid. I was desperately calling out for Walaa until I saw her lifeless body lying on the ground, soaked in her own blood,” Yosra said while crying.
In a nearby tent, 60-year-old Mahmoud Saadeh and his family were asleep before finding themselves thrown to the ground by the explosion.
“I woke up and found myself far away [from our tent] with my family members. Everyone was screaming and the children were screaming,” Mahmoud says. “The mosque’s rubble had flattened our tents completely.”
Suffering severe chest injuries, Mahmoud received limited medical attention at the hospital due to shortages of supplies and resources. “The medical staff were overwhelmed. Some nurses attended to us with what little they had. But resources were scarce, so we left.”
“As you can see, our tents were completely burned and we lost all of our things that we fled with from one area to another. Now, we do not know where we will go.”
The displaced in Deir el-Balah have come from all over Gaza, forced to flee under Israeli attack.
The Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 30,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, and international condemnation of Israel’s targeting of civilian areas has been growing as the war persists.
