By Abdallah Aljamal – Gaza

The Palestine Chronicle spoke to Abdullah Karaja, a young relative of the family whose members were massacred on that tragic day. 

On Monday, May 13, Israeli occupation forces committed a major massacre in an area known as Camp 2 in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.

The Israeli strike hit a residential house belonging to the Karaja family and hosting nearly 100 displaced persons. At least 37 people were killed in the bombing.

The civil defense teams, which confirmed the presence of at least 100 displaced persons in the building, said in a statement that their teams continued to work with great difficulty for hours, looking for survivors and bodies. Unfortunately, their work was complicated by several factors, including the fuel depletion and Israel’s relentless bombing of many vehicles around that area.

The Palestine Chronicle spoke to Abdullah Karaja, a young relative of the family whose members were massacred on that tragic day. 

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Killing without Warning

“After the Isha prayer on May 13, the occupation forces bombed my relatives’ house, killing and wounding all the people inside it,” Abdullah told The Palestine Chronicle. 

Abdullah said that the house, which consisted of three floors, belonged to his uncle, 63-year-old Hajj Suhail Karaja. 

During the war, more than 100 of his relatives, mostly children and women, sought refuge in the house. 

Karaja also told us that Israel “bombed the house without any warning, killing and injuring everyone inside.”

“The occupation deliberately bombs the houses at night, to inflict the highest number of casualties among civilians,” he said. 

“Killing civilians is considered a victory for the occupation, and this is what its forces have been practicing since the first day of its war on the Gaza Strip,” he continued.

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Abdullah added that the rescue operations continued for more than 20 hours. 

“The bodies of 37 martyrs were recovered from under the rubble of my family’s house, most of whom were children and women,” he said. 

“On the same day, the occupation also targeted a school affiliated with UNRWA in Nuseirat, killing six displaced persons and bringing the death toll on that day to 43.”

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Enough 

“My cousin Hussam Abu Al-Quraia was one of the most famous kebab makers in Gaza City. During the war, he decided to move with his family from Shejaiya to the house of my uncle Suhail, in Nuseirat. They were all killed on that very day,” Abdallah explained.

“Hussam, his wife Samia, his son Abdul Rahman, 10, his daughters Zeina, 4, Farah, 8, and Malak, 16, were all martyred by the occupation and the entire family was erased from the Palestinian civil registry,” he continued.

Abdullah told us that his cousin was loved by all of his customers. “He loved life, welcomed his customers with a big smile, joked with everyone, and spent most of his time in his shop,” he said. 

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“My uncle’s house hosted women, children, and civilians. They sought refuge there due to the relentless bombings, but the occupation’s rockets reached them and killed them while they were asleep”. 

“The occupation must be held accountable for all the genocide crimes it has committed against our people, and the war must stop immediately,” Abdallah said. 

“We have been enduring this suffering for more than eight months. Enough!”

(The Palestine Chronicle)