Military fires missile at building, killing two sixth-floor occupants
Testimonies of Mu’az Subuh and Baraa Subuh
Khaled Hassan Salem al-Masalhah, 49
Until the war broke out, I lived with my husband and my children: Ayman, 23, his wife Hind, 22, who’s seven months pregnant, ‘Abdallah, 22, Lina, 20, Salem, 15, Ibrahim, 14, and Yusef, 11.
On Sunday, 16 May 2021, at around 3:30 A.M., my husband Khaled was sitting in bed smoking a cigarette. I was next to him. Ayman and Hind were in their room, and the rest of the kids were with my mother-in-law, who lives next door. When we heard the muezzin call for dawn prayers, I said to my husband, “Get up and wash for dawn prayers.” He said, “I’ll just finish the cigarette and go.”
Suddenly, I heard something fall on the house and the room filled with dust. Stones fell and scattered all over the room. I looked around and couldn’t see anything. Everything was full of dust. After five minutes, the dust settled and I saw my husband’s face. He was badly wounded in the head. I went out of the room and screamed. My son Ayman came out of his room at the same time and when he saw his father, I heard him say, “Oh my God!”
I looked down at the prayer robe I was wearing and saw it had blood and bits of my husband’s flesh on it. I was shocked and started screaming hysterically. Ayman helped me downstairs and took me to his grandmother’s house. We left my husband as he was.
About half an hour later, an ambulance arrived. It came late because there was massive artillery shelling and shells had landed in our area. When the ambulance arrived, there was another shelling, and the driver reversed and stopped by one of the houses to avoid getting hit. The Israeli military also fired flare bombs over the area.
Ayman went up to our house with two paramedics, and they brought my husband down on a stretcher and put him in an ambulance. Later, I saw that parts of his head had remained on the bed. The ambulance drove to a-Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital, and Ayman and another relative of ours named Hassan went with him.
My daughter-in-law Hind and I also went in an ambulance to hospital, where she was examined because she’s pregnant. She was in good condition. I was hysterical and the doctors gave me oxygen, a sedative and an anesthetic. I stayed in hospital until 6:30 A.M. Then some relatives came and took Hind and me to my brother-in-law Tareq’s house in a-Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
We buried my husband before noon at the a-Zawaydah cemetery in central Gaza. He was a farmer who worked odd jobs, and most of the time was unemployed. He had asthma, for which he needed medication and an inhaler. Sometimes, our sons would help support the family. They would go out to the streets, collect plastic waste and sell it for five or ten shekels.
Then they brought out my wife Suddenly, I heard something fall on the house and the room filled with dust. Stones fell and scattered all over the room. I looked around and couldn’t see anything. Everything was full of dust. After five minutes, the dust settled and I saw my husband’s face. He was badly wounded in the head. I went out of the room and screamed.
Testimonies of Mu’az Subuh and Baraa Subuh
Testimony of ‘Abd al-Karim Barakah
Testimony of Ziad Hiles
Testimony of ‘Imad Jneid
Testimony of Sa’id Abu ‘Aasi
Testimony of Muhammad al-Hittu and Mu’awiyah al-Wahidi
Testimony of Ibrahim Abu Sa’adah
Testimony of ‘Atiyyah al-‘Amur
Testimony of Ibrahim Abu Sakran
Testimony of Muhammad al-Khatib
Testimonies of Naser Abu Fares and Isma’il ‘Ayash
Testimony of ‘Iz a-Din a-Rantisi
Testimony of Muna Aman and Yusef Aman
Testimonies of Taher al-Madhun and Hatem a-Tanani
Testimonies of Muhammad al-‘Attar and Manar al-‘Attar
Testimony of Ahmad Khaled
Testimony of Muhammad al-Far’awi
Testimony of Ibrahim Salamah
Testimonies of Mahmoud al-‘Ar’ir and Lubna Bhar
Testimony of ‘Azzam al-Kolak
Testimony of Riyad Ishkuntana
Testimony of Rami al-Ifrangi
Testimony of Buthaynah Na’im al-Qumo’
Testimony of Amal al-Masalhah
Testimony of Muhammad Abu Dayer
Testimonies of Sa’ed, Sa’id, and Dunia ‘Asaliyah