They fled Gaza to escape the Zionist bombardment... #Photos: "The Saqallah family bids farewell to their sons who were killed during the occupation's airstrikes on Khan Younis."

نزحوا من غزة هربًا من القصف الصهيوني.. #صور: "عائلة ساق الله تودع أبنائها الذين ارتقوا خلال قصف طائرات الاحتلال لمحافظة خان يونس."

Dozens Killed in New Gaza Airstrikes; Death Toll Exceeds 5,300 10/24/2023 12:11:00 PM Israeli warplanes resumed their airstrikes on Tuesday, targeting various areas of the Gaza Strip. They bombed a house adjacent to Abu Dalal Mall in the center of Nuseirat refugee camp, resulting in casualties. Ten Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on the Abu Hasanein family home in Deir al-Balah. Seven Palestinians were killed and several others wounded when Israeli warplanes bombed the al-Batta family home near al-Salam Mosque in al-Qarara, Khan Younis. In Rafah, eight Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an airstrike on the Abu Artima home in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood. The Ministry of Health indicated that the death toll has exceeded 5,300, with over 15,000 wounded.

عشرات الشهداء في غارات جديدة على غزة.. وحصيلة الشهداء تتخطى الـ 5300 شهيد 10/24/2023 12:11:00 PM  أستأنفت الطائرات الاسرائيلية قصفها الجوي اليوم الثلاثاء، على مختلف مناطق قطاع غزة. وقصفت منزل مجاور لمول ابو دلال وسط مخيم النصيرات ووجود شهداء واصابات بالمكان. كما استشهد 10 مواطنين في قصف على منزل عائلة ابو حسنين بدير البلح. كما استشهد 7 مواطنين وعدد من الجرحى إثر قصف طائرات الاحتلال منزلًا لعائلة البطة قرب مسجد السلام في بلدة القرارة بخانيونس. وفي رفح استشهد 8 مواطنين واصيب اعداد اخرى بقصف على منزل ابو ارتيمة بحي تل السلطان. واشارت وزارة الصحة الى ان عدد الشهداء تجاوز 5300 شهيد و15 الف جريح.

#AlSharqExclusive "Shame on you... Stop the war, enough is enough... Come and see our young men, like flowers... Enough, we don't want massacres... Find other ways and solutions... All of this is wrong." The Saqallah family, displaced from Gaza to Khan Younis, bid farewell to their martyrs who were killed during the Israeli bombardment of Khan Younis last night. #AlSharq #AlSharqPalestine

#خاص_الشرق "حرام عليكم.. أوقفوا الحرب بكفي.. تعالوا شوفوا الشباب الي زي الورد.. بكفي ما بدنا مجازر .. ابحثوا عن طرق اخرى وحلول.. الي بصير هذا كله حرام"..نزحوا من غزة إلى خانيونس..عائلة ساق الله تودع شهدائها الذين استشهدوا خلال قصف الاحتلال على خانيونس، الليلة الماضية. #الشرق #الشرق_فلسطين

The attempt to escape death failed to change the tragic fate that pursued the Saqallah family from Gaza City to Khan Younis, where their blood mingled with that of their relatives who had sought refuge with them… The family buried more than 50 of its members in a single day. #Watch_Middle_East #Middle_East_Newspaper #Arab_Leadership_Newspaper

محاولة الفرار من الموت لم تفلح في تغيير مصير مأساوي طارد أفراد عائلة «ساق الله» من مدينة غزة إلى خان يونس ليختلط دمهم مع دماء من لجأوا إليهم من أقاربهم… لتدفن العائلة أكثر من 50 من أفرادها في يوم واحد #شاهد_الشرق_الأوسط #صحيفة_الشرق_الأوسط #صحيفة_العرب_الأولى

There is no power nor strength except with God, the Most High, the Almighty. The martyrdom of my uncle Fadl Muhammad Saqallah and his sons Dawoud, Majid, and Muhammad Fadl Saqallah. The martyrdom of my uncle Ahmad Fuad Muhammad Saqallah and his son Abdullah. The martyrdom of my cousins Ahmad and Wael Mahmoud Saqallah. The martyrdom of my cousin Abdul Rahman Mazen Al-Qishawi and my cousin Shadi Nahed Al-Batata, as a result of the bombing of the Al-Batata family home in Khan Yunis. To God we belong and to Him we shall return.

لا حول ولاقوة الابالله العلي العظيم استشهاد عمي فضل محمد ساق الله وأولاده داودو وماجد ومحمد فضل ساق الله استشهاد عمي احمدفؤاد محمد ساق الله وابنه عبد الله استشهاد اولاد عمي احمد ووائل محمود ساق الله استشهاد ابن عمتي عبد الرحمن مازن القيشاوي وابن عمتي شادي ناهض البطة جراء قصف عائلة البطة في خانيونس إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون

Do not think that those who were killed in the cause of God are dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. Mercy upon the martyrs of my family after the treacherous Zionist bombing this morning in Khan Yunis. Sufficient for us is God, and He is the best Disposer of affairs. Martyr: My uncle Fadl Saqallah and his sons Martyr: My uncle Ahmed Saqallah and his son Abdullah Martyr: My cousin Wael Mahmoud Saqallah Martyr: My cousin Ahmed Mahmoud Saqallah Martyr: My cousin Daoud Fadl Saqallah Martyr: My cousin Muhammad Fadl Saqallah Martyr: My cousin Majed Fadl Saqallah Martyr: My cousin Abdul Rahman Mazen Al-Qishawi Martyr: My cousin Shadi Nahed Al-Batata Martyr: My cousin Muhammad Ezzat Saqallah Martyr: Hani Essam Saqallah, his wife, his sister, and his children

ولا تحسبن الذين قتلوا في سبيل الله أمواتا بل أحياء عند ربهم يرزقون الرحمة لشهداء عائلتي بعد قصف صهيوني غادر صباح اليوم في خانيونس حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل الشهيد عمي فضل ساق الله واولاده الشهيد عمي احمد ساق الله وابنه عبد الله الشهيد وائل محمود ساق الله ابن عمي الشهيد احمد محمود ساق الله ابن عمي الشهيد داوود فضل ساق الله ابن عمي الشهيد محمد فضل ساق الله ابن عمي الشهيد ماجد فضل ساق الله ابن عمي الشهيد عبد الرحمن مازن القيشاوي ابن عمتي الشهيد شادي ناهض البطة ابن عمتي الشهيد محمد عزات ساق الله الشهيد هاني عصام ساق الله وزوجته واخته واولاده

With deep sorrow and grief, and with hearts believing in God's decree, I offer my condolences to my brother and friend, Ezzat Saqallah, on the martyrdom of his son, Mohammed, his daughter, Maryam, her husband and children, and his grandson, Ezzat Asaad Saqallah. May God comfort your hearts and grant them Paradise. May God reward you greatly, ease your pain, and grant you patience. May God have mercy on them. Ezzat Said Sakallah Asaad E. Sakallh Mohammed E Sakallha

ببالغ الحزن والأسى وبقلوب مؤمنة بقضاء الله اقدم التعازي لاخي وصديقي عزات ساق الله بستشهاد ابنه محمد وبنته مريم وزوجها واولادها وحفيده عزات اسعد ساق الله جبر الله قلبكم وأسكنهم الله واسع الجنان عظم الله أجركم وجبر مصابكم وألهمكم الصبر تغمدهم الله بواسع رحمته Ezzat Said Sakallah Asaad E. Sakallh Mohammed E Sakallha

"And never think that those who have been killed in the cause of Allah are dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision." The martyrdom of my cousin and beloved friend, Shadi Nahed Al-Batata. The eye sheds tears, the heart grieves, and we are truly saddened by your departure. May Allah accept you among the highest ranks of Paradise and reunite us with you in the highest Gardens of Paradise, O Lord.

" وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا ۚ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ " استشهاد ابن خالي وحبيبي / شادي ناهض البطة إن العين لتدمع وإن القلب ليحزن وإنا على فراقك لمحزونون .. تقبلك الله في عليين وجمعنا بك في جنات الفردوس الاعلى يارب

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. “Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your full reward on the Day of Resurrection. So whoever is removed from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has certainly attained success. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.” God Almighty has spoken the truth. With the highest expressions of pride and honor, And with utmost acceptance and submission to God’s decree and destiny, we announce to you the martyrs of the homeland: Martyr Muhammad Izzat Saqallah Martyr Maryam Izzat Saqallah Martyr Hani Issam Saqallah Martyr Muhammad Hani Saqallah Martyr Issam Hani Saqallah Martyr Mustafa Hani Saqallah Martyr Izzat Asaad Saqallah Those who ascended to the highest heavens Following the brutal aggression against the Gaza Strip last night, I offer my deepest condolences to myself and my wife's family on this immense tragedy. We ask God Almighty to have mercy on them, to accept them among the martyrs, and to grant their families patience and solace. "To God we belong, and to Him we shall return."

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم «كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَمَنْ زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ومَا الحيَاةُ الدُنيا الاّ متاعُ الغرُور» صدق الله العظيم باسمى ايات الفخر والاعتزاز .. وبمزيد من الرضى والتسليم بقضاء الله وقدره .. نزف اليكم شهداء الوطن: الشهيد محمد عزات ساق الله الشهيدة مريم عزات ساق الله الشهيد هاني عصام ساق الله الشهيد الطفل محمد هاني ساق الله الشهيد الطفل عصام هاني ساق الله الشهيد الطفل مصطفي هاني ساق الله الشهيد الطفل عزات اسعد ساق الله الذين ارتقوا للعلى اثر العدوان الغاشم علي قطاع غزة الليلة الماضية اعزي نفسي و اهل زوجتي الكرام بهاذا المصاب الجلل ونسال الله عز وجل ان يتغمدهم بواسع رحمته وان يتقبلهم مع الشهداء وان يلهم اهلهم الصبر وحسن العزاء "انا لله وانا اليه راجعون"

The neighboring moon of the neighborhood / Hani Essam Saqallah, his wife Maryam, and their children / Muhammad, Essam, and Mustafa May God have mercy on them

قمر الحي الجار / هاني عصام ساق الله .وزوجته مريم . واطفاله / محمد وعصام ومصطفى رحمة الله عليهم

To God we belong and to Him we shall return. The martyrdom of our dear Muhammad Izzat Saqallah, and the son of my friend and brother Asaad, his sister, her husband, and their children. May God have mercy on them and accept them among the martyrs, and grant you patience, my dear Asaad Izzat Saqallah.

إنّا لله وإنّا إليهِ رَاجعُون استشهاد الغالي على قلوبنا محمد عزات ساق الله وابن صديقي واخي اسعد واخته وزوجها واولادهم الله يرحمهم ويتقبلهم مع الشهداء ويصبركم حبيبي اسعد عزات ساق الله

My cousin is in God's care. Abdul Rahman Mazen Al-Qishawi We consider you among the martyrs, God willing. May God have mercy on you, Aboud... May God have mercy on you and grant you spacious gardens in Paradise, God willing. The martyr ascended to heaven with his martyred uncles: his uncle Fadl and his sons, his uncle Ahmed and his sons, and his uncle Mahmoud's sons, in a massacre in Khan Yunis... May God have mercy on them and grant them Paradise, God willing.

ابن عمي في ضيافة الرحمن عبد الرحمن مازن القيشاوي نحتسبك مع الشhداء ان شاء الله رحمك الله ياعبوود... رحمك الله واسكنك فسيح جناته أن شاء الله ارتقي الشhيد مع أخواله الشhداء خاله فضل وابناؤهم وخاله أحمد وابناؤه وأبناء خاله محمود في مجزرة بمدينه خانيونس ... رحمهم الله واسكنهم الله الجنان إن شاء الله

There is no power nor strength except with God. Martyrdom of our colleague Hani Saqallah and his family. May God have mercy on you, Hani, and grant you Paradise.

لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله إستشهاد الزميل / هاني ساق الله وعائلته Hani Saqallah الله يرحمك يا هاني ويجعل مثواك الجنة

To God we belong and to Him we shall return... My colleague and friend Hani Saqallah and his family are martyrs. May God have mercy on you, Hani. You were a symbol of morality, refinement, good manners, commitment, and kindness. May you rest in eternal peace, Hani Saqallah.

إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون... زميلي وصديقي هاني ساق الله وعائلته شهداء رحمه الله عليك يا هاني كنت رمزا للاخلاق والذوق والادب والالتزام والطيبه إلى جنان الخلد يا Hani Saqallah

{And do not think that those who were killed in the cause of Allah are dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.} The martyrdom of my beloved cousin, Abdul Rahman Mazen Al-Qishawi, and his maternal uncles: Fadl Saqallah and his sons, Ahmed Saqallah and his son, and the sons of his maternal uncle Mahmoud Saqallah, in the brutal occupation massacre in Khan Yunis this morning. We say only what pleases Allah: "Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we will return." And, God willing, Paradise will be our meeting place. Sufficient for us is Allah, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.

{ وَلَا تَحۡسَبَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ قُتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أَمۡوَٰتَۢاۚ بَلۡ أَحۡيَآءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ يُرۡزَقُونَ } إسـ٫ـتـ٫ـشـهـ٫ـاد حبيبي و إبن عمي: عبدالرحمن مازن القيشاوي و أخواله: فضل ساق الله و أبناؤه و احمد ساق الله و إبنه و أبناء خاله محمود ساق الله في مجزرة الاحتلال الغاشمة على خانيونس فجر اليوم و لا نقول سوى ما يُرضي الله إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون، وإن شاء الله الجنة ملتقانا جميعا حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل

The procession of martyrs from the Elbatta family continues. Our young, virtuous cousin, Shadi, is in God's mercy.

قافلة شهداء عائلة إلبطة مستمرة إبن العم الشاب الخلوق شادي في رحمة الله

The moon of Al-Qarara #Shadi_Nahed_Al-Batata Along with a number of other moons As a result of the targeting of their home at dawn today And the martyrdom of a number of displaced people from the Saqallah family

قمر القرارة #شادي_ناهض_البطة برفقه عدد من الاقمار جراء استهد|اف منزلهم فجر اليوم وارتقاء عددد من النازحين من عائلة ساق الله

We mourn the loss of our beloved cousin, Engineer Shadi al-Batata, who was killed in a treacherous bombing that targeted his home. He was martyred along with a group of those who had sought refuge in his family's house. God chooses the righteous and virtuous. May God grant you peace, dear friend.

#ننعى الحبيب الأريب ابن العم المهندس شادي البطة بعد قصف غادر استهدف منزله ليرتقي مع ثلة ممن نزحوا إلى بيت عائلته .. يصطفي الله الأتقياء الأخيار .. في أمان الله يا حبيب

Our hearts grieve. Our colleague, Engineer Shadi Al-Batata, a companion through thick and thin, a man of hard work and ambition... May God accept him among the martyrs and the righteous, and what excellent companions they are! To God we belong, and to Him we shall return. Sufficient for us is God, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.

إن القلب ليحزن الزميل المهندس شادي البطة رفيق الأيام الصعبة وصاحب الجهد والطموح.. تقبله الله مع الشهداء والصالحين وحسن أولئك رفيقا إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون وحسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل

The eye sheds tears, and the heart grieves, and we are truly saddened by your departure, Shadi. With hearts believing in God's decree and destiny, we mourn the martyrdom of our brother, friend, and colleague, the late Shadi Al-Batata. May you rest in eternal peace, dear one. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.

إن العين لتدمع وإن القلب ليحزن وإنا على فراقك يا شادي لمحزونون ‏ بقلوب مؤمنة بقضاء الله وقدره استشهاد الاخ والصديق والزميل طيب الذكر شادي البطة الى جنات الخلد ياغالي ‏ حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل...

Our friend Fadl Saqallah is a martyr. May God have mercy on him, forgive him, and grant him paradise.

الصديق فضل ساق الله شهيد الله يرحمه ويغفر له ويسكنه فسيح جناته

To God we belong and to Him we shall return. The martyrdom of our dear Muhammad Izzat Saqallah, and the son of my friend, brother, and beloved Asaad, along with his sister, her husband, and their children. May God have mercy on them and accept them among the martyrs. May He grant you patience, my brother and beloved. May God be with you and give you strength. Shocking news. Asaad Izzat Saqallah

إنّا لله وإنّا إليهِ رَاجعُون استشهاد الغالي على قلوبنا محمد عزات ساق الله وابن صديقي واخي وحبيبي اسعد واخته وزوجها واولادهم الله يرحمهم وويتقبلهم مع الشهداء ويصبركم يخوي وحبيبي والله يكون معك ويصبرك يخوي خبر صادم اسعد عزات ساق الله

To God we belong and to Him we shall return. The martyrdom of our dear Muhammad Izzat Saqallah, and the son of my friend and brother Asaad, his sister, her husband, and their children. May God have mercy on them and accept them among the martyrs, and grant you patience, my dear Asaad Izzat Saqallah.

إنّا لله وإنّا إليهِ رَاجعُون استشهاد الغالي على قلوبنا محمد عزات ساق الله وابن صديقي واخي أسعد واخته وزوجها واولادهم الله يرحمهم ويتقبلهم مع الشهداء ويصبركم حبيبي اسعد عزات ساق الله

She was displaced from Gaza and killed by the occupation in a bombing of Khan Yunis... The Saqallah family bids farewell to their martyrs who were killed last night.

نزحت من غزة فقتلها الاحتلال في قصف على خانيونس... عائلة ساق الله تودع شهدائها الذين ارتقوا الليلة الماضية.

October 24, 2023 To Paradise, my beloved brother Martyr Abdul Rahman Al-Qishawi To Paradise, my uncles and cousins, the Saq Allah family To Paradise, my cousin Shadi Al-Batata May God have mercy on you all, my loved ones You broke our hearts God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs

24/10/2023 الى جنات الخلد يخووو يا حبيبي الشهيد اخويا عبد الرحمن القيشاوي الى جنات الخلد يا اخوالي و وولاد خوالي آل ساق الله الى جنات الخلد يا ابن خالتي شادي البطة الله يرحمكم جميعا يا حبايبييي وجعتو قلوبنااااا حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The night a blast struck his family’s home in the Gaza Strip, Ahmed al-Naouq was more than 2,000 miles away but he still jolted awake, consumed with inexplicable panic. He reached for his cellphone to find that a friend had written — and then deleted — a message. Al-Naouq called him from London. The words that spilled from the other end of the line landed like world-shattering blows: Airstrike. Everyone killed. Four nights later, Ammar al-Butta was startled from sleep in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis when the wall of his bedroom collapsed over him. A missile had pierced his top-floor apartment and exploded one floor below.He lurched over the rubble, shining the light of his cellphone into the wreckage, calling out to his 16 relatives.“Anyone there?” he cried. There was only silence.Entire generations of Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip — from great-grandparents to infants only weeks old — have been killed in airstrikes in the Israel-Hamas war, in which the Israeli army says it aims to root out the militant group from the densely populated coastal territory. Attacks are occurring at a scale never seen in years of Israel-Hamas conflict, hitting residential areas, schools, hospitals, mosques and churches, even striking areas in southern Gaza where Israeli forces ordered civilians to flee. Israel says the goal of the war is to destroy Hamas following the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel that killed at least 1,200 people, and it maintains that the attacks target militant operatives and infrastructure. It blames the high death toll — more than 11,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry — on Hamas, saying the group endangers civilians by operating among the population and in tunnels underneath civilian areas. Israel says the death toll includes Hamas fighters.But the scope of the destruction and loss of life in Gaza, with entire families wiped out in a single strike, has raised troubling questions about Israeli military tactics. GENERATIONS LOSTIt would take many hours of horror and mayhem before the truth would settle like the ash from the Oct. 22 explosion that leveled al-Naouq’s family’s home: 21 relatives killed.They included his 75-year old father, two brothers, three sisters and their 13 children.“I can’t believe this actually happened,” al-Naouq, a graduate student in London, told The Associated Press. “Because if I calculate what it means, I will be destroyed.”His father, Nasri, had recently told him that his sister Aya’s home was destroyed and she was staying with the others elsewhere in the central city of Deir al-Balah, south of the area Israel had ordered Palestinians to leave.A home can be rebuilt, al-Naouq recalled replying, all that matters is that she and the children are alive.But just hours later, they were all dead: Wala’a, the most accomplished of the al-Naouq children with a degree in engineering, and her four children; Alaa and her five children; Aya, known for her wry sense of humor, and her three children; older brother Muhammed; and younger brother Mahmoud, who was preparing to travel to Australia for graduate studies when the war broke out. Nine of the 21 are still under the rubble; dire fuel shortages prevented civil defense crews from digging them out.Identifying the dead was another traumatizing endeavor; many bodies were unrecognizable, most were in pieces. Al-Naouq’s sister, Doaa, who was not in the house at the time of the strike, told him she couldn’t bear the smell of the rotting flesh of their loved ones under the rubble. Someone showed her body parts retrieved from the site and told her it was one of their sisters.There were two survivors: Shimaa, al-Naouq’s sister-in-law, and Omar, his 3-year-old nephew. His 11-year old niece, Malaka, was taken to al-Aqsa hospital with severe burns but died after doctors gave her ICU bed to another patient with a better chance of survival, his sister Doaa said.Doctors have to make extraordinarily difficult triage decisions, and severely wounded patients are being left to die because of shortages of beds, medical supplies and fuel, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, in Nasser Hospital, Gaza’s second-largest.“We leave most as we don’t have ventilators or beds,” he said of patients in need of intensive care with complicated blast wounds. “We’ve reached full collapse.” COMPETING CLAIMSIsrael doesn’t say how it chooses targets in densely populated Gaza. But Israeli officials say many strikes on homes are based on intelligence assessments that wanted Hamas operatives are inside. Though it gives few details, Israel says every airstrike is reviewed by legal experts to ensure they comply with international law.Many Gaza families deny any Hamas targets were operating from their homes. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says a majority of Palestinians killed have been minors and women, about 4,500 and 2,200 respectively. At least 304 families have lost at least 10 relatives; about 31 families have lost over 30, according to a Nov. 6 health ministry report. That number is likely higher now as intense Israeli bombardment has continued. Among the families with the highest number of casualties, many have been children.The al-Astal family lost 89 relatives, 18 of them children under the age of 10, including three babies not yet a year old, according to an Oct. 26 ministry report. The Hassouna family had 74 killed, including 22 children ranging in age from 1 to 10 years old, it said. The Najjars lost 65 relatives: More than 20 were under 10 years old, including 13 under 4.Ammar al-Butta says his relatives were all civilians with no links to Hamas.The Saqallah family, his cousins known for their sweet shops in Gaza City, had taken shelter with al-Butta’s family in their four-story house in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, heeding Israeli evacuation orders.The family arrived with trays of confections for their hosts. Joking with his cousins in the family’s living room was a rare moment of respite in the fog of war and displacement, the 29-year-old teacher said.One cousin, Ahmed Saqallah, 42, spoke of rebuilding his family’s bomb-damaged home and looked forward to fixing the plumbing and painting.“Simple, sweet dreams,” al-Butta said.Ten days later all 16 Saqallahs, from 69-year old Nadia to baby Asaad, not yet a year old, were killed in the Oct. 24 pre-dawn attack.UNANSWERED QUESTIONSA question left by al-Naouq in his family’s WhatsApp group the night the blast leveled their home — “Tell me, how are you guys?” — remains unanswered. The distance has made the devastating news all the more surreal. Observing London’s peaceful nights, where sounds of mirth resonate from restaurants and bars, al-Naouq imagines the airstrikes lighting Gaza’s skies, the screams of panicked residents. His family, lying lifeless under the rubble. He has no idea where his relatives’ bodies are buried. There was no space in the hospital morgue to keep them. They could be in a mass grave, but al-Naouq has no way of knowing.Al-Butta said the Saqallah family was buried in his family grave in Khan Younis. The entire neighborhood mourned when they were interred. “Our eyes are dry,” he said. “There are no tears left.”In the chaos of the war, taking account of the dead is a rushed, heart-rending process. It begins with relatives scribbling the names of the dead and missing. They dig into the rubble with their hands, calling out for survivors. Hospitals later issue death certificates.Grieving relatives, who maintain no one in their households had links to Hamas, ask: Why them?“Why would they kill children and an old man?” asked al-Naouq. “What is the military justification for bombing my house? They were all civilians.”“I wish, one day, I can meet the one who pulled the trigger. I want to ask him: Why did you do it?”___Kullab reported from Baghdad. ___This story was first published on November 17, 2023. It was updated on November 18, 2023 to correct the date that 21 members of Ahmed al-Naouq’s family were killed in Gaza. It was Oct. 22, not Oct. 20. The story also corrects where his sister Aya was living before she moved into the family home. It was central Gaza, not northern Gaza.

They were displaced from Gaza to escape the Israeli bombing. Saqallah family bids farewell to its members who were killed during the Israeli warplane’s bombing of Khan Yunis city South of Gaza.

Israeli air raid hits residential building, killing 32 people An overnight Israeli air strike hit a four-storey residential building in Khan Younis, killing at least 32 people and wounding many others, according to survivors. The fatalities included 13 from the Saqallah family in the al-Qaraha area, east of Khan Younis, said Ammar al-Butta, a relative who survived the attack. He said about 100 people, including his family and many others, had sheltered there. An Associated Press video showed a dozen white body bags lying on the ground outside the main gate of the hospital. One woman was weeping while another tried to console her. “We were hosting our relatives from Gaza and the northern cities,” al-Butta said, speaking from the hospital. “They were sheltering at our home because we thought that our area would be safe. But apparently, there is no safe place in Gaza.” Osama al-Bashity, another relative, said they couldn’t recognise the dead. “We recognised them through the clothes they wore, who wore these trousers, or that T-shirt,” he said. “They turned into pieces.”

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The night a blast struck his family’s home in the Gaza Strip, Ahmed al-Naouq was more than 2,000 miles away but he still jolted awake, consumed with inexplicable panic. He reached for his cellphone to find that a friend had written — and then deleted — a message. Al-Naouq called him from London. The words that spilled from the other end of the line landed like world-shattering blows: Airstrike. Everyone killed. Four nights later, Ammar al-Butta was startled from sleep in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis when the wall of his bedroom collapsed over him. A missile had pierced his top-floor apartment and exploded one floor below.He lurched over the rubble, shining the light of his cellphone into the wreckage, calling out to his 16 relatives.“Anyone there?” he cried. There was only silence.Entire generations of Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip — from great-grandparents to infants only weeks old — have been killed in airstrikes in the Israel-Hamas war, in which the Israeli army says it aims to root out the militant group from the densely populated coastal territory. Attacks are occurring at a scale never seen in years of Israel-Hamas conflict, hitting residential areas, schools, hospitals, mosques and churches, even striking areas in southern Gaza where Israeli forces ordered civilians to flee. Israel says the goal of the war is to destroy Hamas following the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel that killed at least 1,200 people, and it maintains that the attacks target militant operatives and infrastructure. It blames the high death toll — more than 11,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry — on Hamas, saying the group endangers civilians by operating among the population and in tunnels underneath civilian areas. Israel says the death toll includes Hamas fighters.But the scope of the destruction and loss of life in Gaza, with entire families wiped out in a single strike, has raised troubling questions about Israeli military tactics. GENERATIONS LOSTIt would take many hours of horror and mayhem before the truth would settle like the ash from the Oct. 22 explosion that leveled al-Naouq’s family’s home: 21 relatives killed.They included his 75-year old father, two brothers, three sisters and their 13 children.“I can’t believe this actually happened,” al-Naouq, a graduate student in London, told The Associated Press. “Because if I calculate what it means, I will be destroyed.”His father, Nasri, had recently told him that his sister Aya’s home was destroyed and she was staying with the others elsewhere in the central city of Deir al-Balah, south of the area Israel had ordered Palestinians to leave.A home can be rebuilt, al-Naouq recalled replying, all that matters is that she and the children are alive.But just hours later, they were all dead: Wala’a, the most accomplished of the al-Naouq children with a degree in engineering, and her four children; Alaa and her five children; Aya, known for her wry sense of humor, and her three children; older brother Muhammed; and younger brother Mahmoud, who was preparing to travel to Australia for graduate studies when the war broke out. Nine of the 21 are still under the rubble; dire fuel shortages prevented civil defense crews from digging them out.Identifying the dead was another traumatizing endeavor; many bodies were unrecognizable, most were in pieces. Al-Naouq’s sister, Doaa, who was not in the house at the time of the strike, told him she couldn’t bear the smell of the rotting flesh of their loved ones under the rubble. Someone showed her body parts retrieved from the site and told her it was one of their sisters.There were two survivors: Shimaa, al-Naouq’s sister-in-law, and Omar, his 3-year-old nephew. His 11-year old niece, Malaka, was taken to al-Aqsa hospital with severe burns but died after doctors gave her ICU bed to another patient with a better chance of survival, his sister Doaa said.Doctors have to make extraordinarily difficult triage decisions, and severely wounded patients are being left to die because of shortages of beds, medical supplies and fuel, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, in Nasser Hospital, Gaza’s second-largest.“We leave most as we don’t have ventilators or beds,” he said of patients in need of intensive care with complicated blast wounds. “We’ve reached full collapse.” COMPETING CLAIMSIsrael doesn’t say how it chooses targets in densely populated Gaza. But Israeli officials say many strikes on homes are based on intelligence assessments that wanted Hamas operatives are inside. Though it gives few details, Israel says every airstrike is reviewed by legal experts to ensure they comply with international law.Many Gaza families deny any Hamas targets were operating from their homes. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says a majority of Palestinians killed have been minors and women, about 4,500 and 2,200 respectively. At least 304 families have lost at least 10 relatives; about 31 families have lost over 30, according to a Nov. 6 health ministry report. That number is likely higher now as intense Israeli bombardment has continued. Among the families with the highest number of casualties, many have been children.The al-Astal family lost 89 relatives, 18 of them children under the age of 10, including three babies not yet a year old, according to an Oct. 26 ministry report. The Hassouna family had 74 killed, including 22 children ranging in age from 1 to 10 years old, it said. The Najjars lost 65 relatives: More than 20 were under 10 years old, including 13 under 4.Ammar al-Butta says his relatives were all civilians with no links to Hamas.The Saqallah family, his cousins known for their sweet shops in Gaza City, had taken shelter with al-Butta’s family in their four-story house in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, heeding Israeli evacuation orders.The family arrived with trays of confections for their hosts. Joking with his cousins in the family’s living room was a rare moment of respite in the fog of war and displacement, the 29-year-old teacher said.One cousin, Ahmed Saqallah, 42, spoke of rebuilding his family’s bomb-damaged home and looked forward to fixing the plumbing and painting.“Simple, sweet dreams,” al-Butta said.Ten days later all 16 Saqallahs, from 69-year old Nadia to baby Asaad, not yet a year old, were killed in the Oct. 24 pre-dawn attack.UNANSWERED QUESTIONSA question left by al-Naouq in his family’s WhatsApp group the night the blast leveled their home — “Tell me, how are you guys?” — remains unanswered. The distance has made the devastating news all the more surreal. Observing London’s peaceful nights, where sounds of mirth resonate from restaurants and bars, al-Naouq imagines the airstrikes lighting Gaza’s skies, the screams of panicked residents. His family, lying lifeless under the rubble. He has no idea where his relatives’ bodies are buried. There was no space in the hospital morgue to keep them. They could be in a mass grave, but al-Naouq has no way of knowing.Al-Butta said the Saqallah family was buried in his family grave in Khan Younis. The entire neighborhood mourned when they were interred. “Our eyes are dry,” he said. “There are no tears left.”In the chaos of the war, taking account of the dead is a rushed, heart-rending process. It begins with relatives scribbling the names of the dead and missing. They dig into the rubble with their hands, calling out for survivors. Hospitals later issue death certificates.Grieving relatives, who maintain no one in their households had links to Hamas, ask: Why them?“Why would they kill children and an old man?” asked al-Naouq. “What is the military justification for bombing my house? They were all civilians.”“I wish, one day, I can meet the one who pulled the trigger. I want to ask him: Why did you do it?”___Kullab reported from Baghdad. ___This story was first published on November 17, 2023. It was updated on November 18, 2023 to correct the date that 21 members of Ahmed al-Naouq’s family were killed in Gaza. It was Oct. 22, not Oct. 20. The story also corrects where his sister Aya was living before she moved into the family home. It was central Gaza, not northern Gaza.

The martyr Shadi Naheed Al-Batta, 35 years old. Shadi had been married for 8 years, and we have three princesses (Mira, Sarah, Dana). Shadi, an engineer, loved his work and was dedicated to it with meticulous attention to details. He was helpful to all his colleagues, never refusing a request, and always ready to assist everyone. Shadi held a master's degree in Water and Environment and was the director of the central treatment plant in Khan Yunis for the Coastal Municipalities Water Authority. His wife says, "Shadi, you were a symbol of courage and sacrifice. You left behind beautiful memories for us from the 8 years we spent together with our small family." Shadi had obtained a passport to travel for his doctoral studies, but he was martyred in an Israeli airstrike on his home on October 24, 2023.