Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Within the early hours of Saturday morning, 24-year-old Sajida al-Kafarna was sleeping along with her household inside a college classroom after they have been woken by an enormous explosion.
“We reassured one another that we have been OK, however after I observed my father’s empty place, panic set in as a result of he had gone to hope daybreak prayer,” recounted Sajida.
Sajida’s household was among the many roughly 2,400 displaced Palestinians sheltering at al-Tabin Faculty. Her father, Abdul Aziz al-Kafarna, 58, was inside the college’s small mosque when Israel bombed the constructing.
Sajida paused, holding again sobs.
“My mom, my siblings, and I all rushed to seek out him. The varsity was ablaze, and everybody was screaming hysterically,” she recalled, chatting with Al Jazeera over the cellphone from the Daraj district in central Gaza Metropolis.
Sajida described harrowing scenes as she frantically looked for her father among the many lifeless.
“One particular person was nonetheless on fireplace, calling for assist, however nobody might save him. He burned in entrance of us, and nobody might get in to assist,” Sajida recalled in a trembling voice.
“We tried to douse the flames, then we used our cell flashlights to seek for my father as a result of it was nonetheless darkish.”
She remembers scrambling over torn limbs looking for her father, her garments and palms getting coated in blood. Sajida, her 5 siblings and their mom spent almost two hours looking for Abdul. Then, “My mom broke down, screaming at us to cease. ‘Sufficient. Let’s return. Your father was torn to items,’” she recounted.
The household returned to their classroom in a state of collapse. However Sajida couldn’t relaxation with out discovering some hint of her father. So she sneaked out once more with one brother to proceed their search. “Civil defence crews tried to cease us, however we insisted,” Sajida mentioned.
Quickly afterwards, she discovered Abdul’s physique within the nook of the mosque, buried below the stays of different victims. “Thank God, my father’s physique was one of many few that wasn’t fully dismembered,” she shared, bursting into tears.
She watched as folks round her gathered folks’s stays to bury – not sure of whether or not they belonged to their family members. “It was insufferable,” Sajida mentioned.
Israel’s claims
The Israeli assault on al-Tabin Faculty killed greater than 100 Palestinians, together with ladies, youngsters and elderly people.
Israel mentioned it struck a “command and management centre” for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters. Hamas has rejected these claims.
Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked schools in Gaza the place individuals are sheltering, claiming they’re working centres for Hamas, the group that governs Gaza, to cover fighters and weapons. Hamas denies working from civilian services.
Israel is understood to step up assaults as ceasefire talks progress as a pressure tactic. The US, Egypt and Qatar have known as on Israel and Hamas to resume peace talks on August 15.
With out offering any proof, Israel claimed 19 fighters have been killed within the lethal strike. Yesterday, the quantity was revised to 31.
A probe by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification company discovered that Israel targeted and killed civilians by sending precision bombs to a prayer corridor housing households and the lads’s chapel under as morning prayers have been beginning. Israel used US-made GBU-39 SDB bombs in its assault, which was “deliberately timed to cause maximum casualties”, the investigation mentioned.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor non-profit organisation mentioned its preliminary investigations confirmed no proof of navy operations on the faculty.
Ash Hamdan, a senior researcher and coordinator on the Forensic Structure Investigation Unit of Ramallah-based human rights organisation Al-Haq, advised Al Jazeera that footage obtained from the group’s discipline researchers confirmed no indicators of navy gear on the faculty. Hamdan famous that what was seen have been cooking utensils, mattresses and bedding, exhibiting that the house was getting used as a shelter. Hamdan additionally mentioned Israel’s checklist of alleged fighters consists of individuals who had been beforehand killed and that the organisation is within the strategy of verifying the 31 names.
Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and a Palestinian nationwide, wrote on X, previously Twitter, that of the initial 19, at the least three had been killed beforehand and 9 have been civilians with no navy ties.
Al Jazeera spoke to a few of the households of victims Israel claims have been fighters. The households refute these claims. The victims included a hospital administration director, a retired principal, a scholar of Arabic language and literature, and a person who was killed in December.
‘100% false’
For Sajida, the shock and devastation of shedding her father was solely compounded when she noticed his image on the checklist issued by the Israeli military of alleged fighters killed within the strike.
“That is 100% false,” Sajida mentioned of the accusation. She defined that Abdul, a father of 9, was the director of administrative providers at Beit Hanoon Hospital, and the deputy mayor of Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza.
“My father was recognized in every single place. He had a superb status, was devoted to his work, and had a routine. He beloved serving to folks and was at all times cheerful,” Sajida shared. “Simply two days in the past, he was handwashing laundry with us, joking about bringing extra [laundry] if we had any.”
For the previous 9 months that the household had been displaced on the faculty, Sajida’s father had volunteered there, serving to with administrative duties and distributing support.
“Why wasn’t he focused throughout all this time if he was concerned in politics or navy actions with Hamas, as they declare? Israel is at all times on the lookout for flimsy excuses to focus on civilians, particularly in shelters,” Sajida mentioned.
“The horror I witnessed within the faculty bloodbath will take years to heal from, if I ever can. There is no such thing as a justification for bombing folks and tearing their our bodies aside with such brutality.”
‘A father in each sense of the phrase’
Manar Eltif, 36, was devastated by her father’s demise in Saturday’s assault.
Like Sajida, she was shocked when she noticed the photograph of her 65-year-old father Mohammad Eltif among the many people Israel claimed have been fighters.
Manar insists her father’s life was “removed from politics”.
“My father was the pillar of my life. He used to inform me, ‘You might be my princess.’ He was very caring about me. He beloved my youngsters, his grandchildren. He used to drive them every single day to highschool the place I labored as a instructor,” she shared. They’d be in contact across the clock and each time certainly one of her youngsters was sick, he would fear and take them to the pharmacy or physician, Manar mentioned, noting “He was a father in each sense of the phrase.”
Mohammad was a retired faculty principal who had labored as a authorities English instructor for the Palestinian Nationwide Authority’s Ministry of Training, Manar advised Al Jazeera, talking from Egypt the place she and her 4 youngsters escaped to in February.
“After my father retired, he turned energetic as a social reformer, resolving inner conflicts with native committees,” Manar shared. “He additionally beloved attending literary seminars and conferences within the space.”
He was a “first-class athlete” and likewise a passionate soccer referee, overseeing matches between golf equipment and native sports activities groups.
“My father’s life motto was ‘a wholesome thoughts in a wholesome physique’. He had an enormous data of diet, cared deeply about his well being, and inspired us to train,” she mentioned. “I grew up seeing him in a black referee’s uniform, with a whistle and a yellow card.”
Sharing pleasure and sorrow
Mohammad and his 4 sons, Manar’s youthful siblings, have been displaced about seven occasions from the Shujayea neighbourhood in jap Gaza Metropolis earlier than settling in al-Tabin Faculty.
Mohammad was cheerful, mentioned Manar. “Every single day, I known as my father to verify on his well being and spirits. He was at all times affected person and by no means complained, regardless of the troublesome circumstances in Gaza.”
On Saturday, Manar woke to the information that daybreak worshippers at al-Tabin Faculty had been focused.
“I had a deep feeling my father was among the many martyrs as a result of I knew his every day dedication to performing the daybreak prayer,” she mentioned, her voice breaking.
“Then the information got here confirming his martyrdom and that his physique had been torn to items.”
She continued: “I don’t perceive the justification for focusing on worshipers in a mosque. Even the excuse of belonging to Hamas isn’t a justification for bombing civilians on this approach.”
In keeping with Manar, her father had volunteered on the faculty by fixing issues for displaced folks and supervising their affairs.
“Simply the day earlier than he was killed, my father advised me how he went with a younger man to suggest to a lady and helped full the engagement ceremony,” Manar added. “This was his nature all through his life—serving folks and sharing of their joys and sorrows.”
‘This conflict is towards us, the civilians’
What saddens Manar probably the most is that she couldn’t say goodbye to Mohammad or be with him earlier than he died.
“The conflict has scattered and divided us. I misplaced two brothers originally of the conflict when a bomb struck our household residence in Shujayea. My household was besieged in a college, and my mom and different ladies have been compelled to maneuver south. I needed to transfer from north to south and finally determined to go away for Egypt,” she mentioned.
“Regardless of all of this, Israel continues to say they’re focusing on Hamas fighters. This conflict is towards us, the civilians, via and thru.”
Manar mentioned that the accusation towards her father was not distinctive. One other sufferer of the bombing additionally on Israel’s checklist was Youssef al-Kahlout, a distinguished college lecturer with whom Manar had studied the Arabic language.
“Dr Youssef was an angel on earth, a revered tutorial and mental who we’ve got now misplaced. As standard, he was additionally accused of being a part of Hamas,” Manar mentioned.
“Israel is continuous its annihilation, and these claims are simply makes an attempt to cowl up their ongoing crimes towards us.”
Focusing on students and scientists
Youssef, 63, was a professor of Arabic language, literature, and criticism on the College of Arts on the Islamic College of Gaza.
His niece, 31-year-old Reem al-Kahlout, shared that the household was devastated by the information of his killing.
“It’s true that my uncle was sympathetic to Hamas, however that doesn’t justify focusing on him in any approach,” mentioned Reem, talking from central Gaza. She clarified that her uncle had no political or navy connection to Hamas.
“My uncle Youssef was the dearest to us amongst all my uncles. He was extremely delicate and tender-hearted. His college students on the college beloved his lectures, and his demise has deeply affected them,” Reem added.
Al-Kahlout had fled along with his spouse and 6 youngsters from their residence in northern Gaza Metropolis, initially in search of refuge at al-Shifa Hospital earlier than shifting to al-Tabin Faculty in December.
On Saturday morning, Reem woke to calls from her father and brothers informing her that her uncle had been killed alongside different worshippers.
“It was heartbreaking, particularly since his physique was torn to items, leaving nothing to bury,” she mentioned.
“My uncle naturally feared conflict and bombings. He lived in fixed pressure. How might somebody with this disposition have navy tendencies, because the Israelis declare?
“Focusing on my uncle is a part of a broader sample of focusing on educated folks, teachers, and society’s elite throughout this conflict. It is a marketing campaign aimed toward annihilating mental minds and all the things worthwhile and important in our society.”
Al-Kahlout was a revered scholar with quite a few literary and poetic works, together with crucial readings and explorations of Islamic ethics in Andalusian poetry.
Greater than 100 scientists, teachers, college professors, and researchers have been killed by Israel’s conflict on Gaza, together with distinguished scientist Sufyan Tayeh, the president of the Islamic College of Gaza, and famend burn specialist and plastic surgeon Medhat Saidam, whereas 103 universities and colleges have been destroyed, in keeping with the Hamas-run Gaza authorities media workplace. Israel has killed at least 39,929 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7.
‘Against the law’
Ahmed Ihab al-Jaabari was additionally on Israel’s checklist of alleged fighters killed on Saturday. The 31-year-old was in actual fact killed in December in an Israeli assault on Gaza Metropolis’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, in keeping with his household.
Ahmed’s father, 58-year-old Ihab, a father of seven, additionally appeared on the checklist. He was killed in Saturday’s strike.
“My uncle Ihab was a civil servant with no political actions,” 20-year-old Bahaa al-Jaabari advised Al Jazeera. “[The accusation against] Ahmed is fake as a result of he was killed eight months in the past.”
When Bahaa, who’s displaced close to al-Tabin, heard concerning the bombing, he rushed to the college. “The scenario was indescribably tragic,” he mentioned.
His 31-year-old brother Mahmoud al-Jaabari was additionally killed within the bombing alongside along with his uncles and cousins.
“My brother’s physique was torn to items. We misplaced seven members of our household on this bloodbath, and the occupation continues to be attempting to justify it by claiming they have been focusing on Hamas,” he mentioned.
“Dismembered physique components, charred our bodies—what occurred is a criminal offense, and the occupation’s phrases are simply failed makes an attempt at justification.”
