Sumaya Abu Ajwa had woken up for the Fajr prayer together with her two foster daughters, 16-year-old Nuseiba and 14-year-old Retaj, and their mom.
She and the women’ mom have been off to 1 facet when the missiles struck, one in every of them passing between the 2 ladies, Abu Ajwa instructed Al Jazeera.
“Immediately, mud and hearth unfold in every single place, prefer it was Judgement Day. I began wanting frantically for the women,” she says tearfully, sitting on a mattress as a result of she has problem strolling.
“I discovered the youthful woman [Retaj] and held her in my arms. Her blood was pouring onto my garments, however I may sense that she was nonetheless respiration,” Abu Ajwa stated, including that she screamed for assist, for anybody to return and save Retaj, however the scene was so chaotic no person was capable of assist.
Quickly after, Retaj succumbed to her wounds.
The seek for Retaj’s massive sister Nuseiba took longer.
“I went again into the flaming prayer room again and again, searching for her, I could not see her wherever. Then somebody instructed me that she was underneath the rubble so I went to look the place they stated.
“Once I reached her,” Abu Ajwa breaks down, “I discovered her and her physique had been torn in two.”
Weeping bitterly, she stated she and the women’ mom had completed every part they might, by way of a number of displacements, to maintain the 4 of them collectively.
Abu Ajwa had mentioned leaving al-Tabin with the women, however Nuseiba had been reluctant to depart, she stated, as a result of she was attending Quran courses there and was pleased with her progress in memorising the holy e book.
“She instructed us that if we needed to depart that was effective, she would keep behind within the college. I instructed her that I had stayed with them all through the warfare and would not depart them now, we might both make it collectively or die collectively, however now they’ve gone on forward and left us. They died earlier than us.”
The ladies solely had one want, she added – for the warfare to finish as a result of they “have been scared so many instances, displaced so many instances, they have been so exhausted and had gone hungry so many instances”.
The ladies have a 14-year-old brother, Abu Ajwa stated, who had been taken from them when the Israeli military raided al-Shifa Hospital the place they have been sheltering on the time.
“The Israelis despatched him north on his personal. We have been very unhappy then however, who is aware of, this will likely have saved him, he is the one hope we’ve left.
“Who will name me Mama Sumaya now? I crave these phrases a lot,” Abu Ajwa sobs.
