RAFAH: Sahar Awwad, a survivor of the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, sits between her surviving nephews in Rafah, near the border with Egypt. Her story is one of unimaginable tragedy, woven through seven weeks of unrelenting Israeli bombardment that has left an indelible mark on her family.
Narrating her story, Awwad recalled the devastating strike that hit their home in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood last Friday. The once vibrant household was obliterated, and the toll was profound—more than 80 family members died in the attack, turning her world into a haunting memory.
Forced to flee their home, Awwad and the remaining survivors sought refuge first in a hospital in Khan Yunis, then in a school in Rafah. The journey, spanning only 35 kilometers from Gaza City to Rafah, took a week.
The survivors, desperate to extract the dead and wounded from the debris, faced further tragedy when Israel struck the site a second time.
Among the survivors, Mossaab, 14, had his leg amputated, and his cousin Abboud, 12, bears scars from the attack. In an agonizing twist, Abboud is unaware of the loss of his mother, two brothers, sister, and grandmother. Only his father survived, as they were already being treated in a hospital when their home was struck.
Amid the heart-wrenching narratives, Fida Zayed recounts her son Udai, who, at 20, met a tragic end in a heavy airstrike. Zayed describes the painful process of identifying her son amid the chaos, saying, “I could only identify him by his belt.” Udai, who had received an Israeli permit to attend the Palestinian Authority’s military academy in the West Bank, tragically became a martyr before his journey could begin.
The Awwad family’s story is emblematic of the countless families devastated during the 47 days of bombardment and siege on the Gaza Strip. The death toll from the Israel’s airstrikes and ground offensive stands at more than 14,500, two thirds of them women and children.
