Khan Younis, Gaza
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Tamer Abu Assi was preparing breakfast for his two sons on Saturday morning when he realized he was out of firewood. Fadi, 8, and Jumar, 10, went out to get food for their father, who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
They never returned.
As Abu Assi was waiting for their children to return to prepare the table, nearby residents rushed to the shelter, saying the two children had been targeted and killed by Israeli forces.
“Are they my children?” he recalled asking.
An agonizing wait ensued as he went to identify the body.
“I took off the shroud and hugged them. Little Juju’s head was blown off. May his soul rest in peace…his arm was severed and part of his torso was missing,” he said shakily. “Mr. Fadi’s right hand and left leg were amputated,” he added.
Jumaa and Fadi were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the town of Bani Suheila, east of the Khan Yunis refuge, their families said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the airstrike in a statement, calling the children “two suspects who crossed the yellow line, engaged in suspicious activity on the ground, approached IDF forces operating in the southern Gaza Strip, and posed an immediate threat.”
“Upon identification, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) removed the suspect to eliminate the threat.”
Bani Suheila is located in territory occupied by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, east of the so-called “Yellow Line.” But with so few markers on the ground, it can be difficult to distinguish the outline of that line. Since the ceasefire took effect in October, Palestinians have been frequently killed by Israeli forces along the invisible border. The Israeli military has repeatedly described them as “terrorists” who “pose an imminent threat”.
The death of two children further increases Gaza’s death toll, which is still rising seven weeks after the ceasefire. Last weekend, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that more than 70,000 people have been killed since the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, including more than 10,000 women and more than 20,000 children.
The number is steadily increasing as emergency workers recover bodies from the rubble. The ministry said more than 600 bodies have been recovered since the start of the ceasefire, but that number is expected to rise significantly. The Gaza Civil Defense Authority estimates that 10,000 bodies are buried under rubble across the shattered enclave.
Additionally, more than 350 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the ceasefire, the ministry said.
A new report released by The Platform, a coalition of 13 Israeli human rights groups, concludes that by 2025, Palestinian human rights in Gaza and the occupied West Bank will suffer “wider, deeper and unprecedented damage”.
The report, obtained by CNN, describes “significant changes” in the nature of this year’s wars and “Israel’s control mechanisms,” in which it says “extreme violations have become standard operating procedure.”
The day before Jumar was killed, he asked his father to sing his favorite song. Abu Assi wasn’t feeling well, so I told him I would do it after a medical checkup the next day.
“I told him, please come with me to the test and I will sing all your favorite songs, son,” Abu Assi said through tears, recalling his last memories with his children.
