Military fires two missiles at street, killing man
The person killed

Muhammad ‘Abed a-Ra’uf Muhammed Hiles, 34

  • 11 May 2021
  • 22:00
  • a-Shuja'iyeh neighborhood, Gaza City

Testimony of Ziad Hiles, 63, a father of nine, Muhammad’s cousin:

I own a small shop in the neighborhood of a-Shuja’iyeh. About 30 meters away, there’s a shop that used to belong to the martyr Muhammad. On Tuesday, 11 May 2021, at around 9:00 P.M., after the Ramadan meal, I was in my shop. Muhammad came to open up his shop. He always came by before opening. I sat and drank tea with him and with three other young men from my family. About 45 minutes later, Muhammad went to his shop to open it.

Just after he got there, I heard a very loud explosion. The whole area was dark because the power was out. I looked towards Muhammad’s shop and saw that the front door had been bombed. I saw him running towards me. His hand was wounded and he was holding it tightly. I called out to him to come quickly and hide in my shop, but he didn’t respond. I guess he didn’t hear me.

About a minute after the first missile, before Muhammad could get to my shop, another missile hit him. I was blown backwards from the force of the blast. My son Muhammad, 34, who was next to me, also flew back. I was holding a small flashlight and turned it on to see Muhammad. I crawled over to him and touched his body. I shouted, “Muhammad’s been killed, Muhammad’s been killed.” His body was mutilated. His arms and feet were broken, and everything was full of blood. The neighbors came immediately with a civilian car and took away Muhammad’s body. They also took ‘Ali Jundiyah, who was seriously injured.  

מוחמד עבד א-ראאוף מוחמד חילס

Muhammad Hiles

About half an hour later, an ambulance arrived and took my son Muhammad and me to a-Shifaa Hospital. I was X-rayed, and they found I had bruises in my pelvic area. I was given a shot and painkillers. My son was injured in his left fingers and had glass shards in his chest. I was discharged that night and went with my wife to my son Tareq’s house in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. We couldn’t go home because I was in a bad mental state and also because we were afraid of the airstrikes. We stayed with him until the war was over, and only then went back home.

I’m very sad about Muhammad. I spend about an hour every day at his grave, crying over him. I miss him all the time. Every day, when I look at his shop and he’s not there, it breaks my heart. I remember how he’d stop by on the way to his shop and how we’d talk and laugh.

Everything reminds me of Muhammad. He has one son, who’s four years old. Whenever I see him, I cry and hug and kiss him. I see Muhammad’s mother pass by my shop every day, morning and evening, on her way to visit the grave. Every time I see her, it breaks my heart. Muhammad was a good, respectable man. He used to help the poor and anyone who was in need. I miss him very much. I walk around feeling that something’s missing in the world. I hope he enters into the grace of God and goes to heaven.

  • Testimony given to Olfat al-Kurd on 26 June 2021
Ziad Hiles, 63, a father of nine, Muhammad’s cousin
Ziad Hiles

I spend about an hour every day at his grave, crying over him. I miss him all the time. Every day, when I look at his shop and he’s not there, it breaks my heart.