The TV is on almost 24 hours a day in the living room in Spydeberg.
Since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out on 7 October, Fuad Timraz has followed the news from his home country closely. The Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera rolls and goes on the screen.
He himself came to Norway as a Palestinian refugee 49 years ago. Now his relatives are on the run in their own country.
On Saturday morning, he again followed the news broadcast on TV. Timraz says he then saw his own family members dead, after an Israeli attack in the city of Deir al-Balah in Gaza.
– I see people digging with their hands in cement, dust and concrete, and pulling out three corpses, says Timraz.
From his armchair in Indre Østfold, Fuad Timraz tries to keep up to date with his family in his home country.
Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / NRK
He recognized several of the dead people as family members on his father’s side. Among them a trio.
– Then I reacted and wrote on Facebook: Now it is my family’s turn to make amends with their lives.
Timraz says a total of 13 members of his family were killed in the attack, which hit a refugee camp roughly in the middle of the Gaza Strip.
Among them there must have been six children.
Searched together on the way south
The conflict between Israel and Palestine flared up again when Hamas attacked several places in southern Israel on Saturday two weeks ago.
After the terrorist attack, Israel has imposed a blockade of the Gaza Strip and is attacking from the air. Israel has asked Palestinians to evacuate south.
Fuad Timraz says he lost 13 family members in a single Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.
Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johsen / NRK
The family of Fuad Timraz is also said to have read the Israeli leaflets with advice to evacuate. They therefore traveled south, before the extended family must have gathered in a house near the town of Deir al-Balah.
Timraz says an Israeli rocket hit the building on Saturday morning. After he saw the TV pictures, he has had no contact with his relatives.
But he is said to have received confirmation from acquaintances in the area that 16 lives were lost. 13 of them his relatives.
Several of them will still lie buried in the ruins, he says. It must be too dangerous to dig them up.
– They are still under the ruins. Nobody manages to get them out, because there is no equipment, says Timraz.
He also says that the rescue workers fear new Israeli attacks.
– 40 people in one house
Timraz says his triplet and the triplet’s son were among those killed on Saturday morning. Both must have worked for the UN.
According to the UN, at least 29 of their employees have been killed since the war began.
Over 7,000 people have lost their lives on both sides of the conflict. Almost 5,000 of them in Gaza, according to Hamas’ Ministry of Health.
In addition, around 200 Israelis are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Timraz says that the reason why entire Palestinian families are killed in the Israeli attacks is precisely because people seek shelter with relatives further south in the Gaza Strip.
– There are 40 to 50 people living in a house that has, for example, four bedrooms. Then you can imagine what happens if a bomb falls on top of that, he says.
Israel’s army: – Follows international law
Israel announced at the weekend an escalation of airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. During the night to Monday, dozens of people were reported killed.
NRK has been in contact with the Israeli army and asked why they attacked the family’s house in Deir al-Balah.
A spokesperson for the army writes to NRK that as a response to Hamas’s barbaric attacks they are reacting strongly to demolish Hamas militarily and administratively.
And further that, in stark contrast to Hamas, they follow international law and take feasible precautions to reduce the damage to civilians.
Fuad Timraz is still worried about other family members in the Gaza Strip. There are several he does not get in touch with.
He hopes the nightmare will soon end.
– I’ve been sitting here watching the live broadcast on TV from Al Jazeera – people are pulling bodies out and piling them on the ground, he says.
– Small bodies that are stacked next to each other, just like a can of herring. There is no humanity in it.
2023-10-24 04:27:35
#Lost #relatives #Israeli #attack #lying #ruins
