Palestinians perform the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan near the ruins of a destroyed mosque by the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, March 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
Displaced by Israeli bombardment, the Tabatibi family gathered in central Gaza to eat together during the first Friday night of Ramzan, a scene that soon turned into a bloodbath.
An air strike hit the building where they were staying as women prepared the pre-fasting meal, killing 36 members of the family, survivors said on Saturday. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza blamed Israel for the strike in Nuseirat.
“This is my mother, this is my father, this is my aunt, and these are my brothers,” 19-year-old Mohammed al-Tabatibi, whose left hand was injured in the strike, said through tears at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah.
“They bombed the house while we were in it. My mother and my aunt were preparing the suhoor food. They were all martyred.”
Stacked bodies
He spoke as bodies were spread out in the hospital courtyard, then stacked on a truck to be driven to a cemetery.
Because there were not enough body bags, some of the dead — including at least two children — were wrapped in white cloth stained with blood.
The strike in Nuseirat was one of 60 “deadly air strikes” reported overnight by the press office of the Hamas-run government, from Gaza City in the north to Rafah in the south.
“This is a bloody night, a very bloody night,” said Salama Maarouf of the Hamas-run government media office.
