the night israel killed my family, and almost me as well;

On March 2, Israel wiped out four generations of my family in one night. An Israeli strike at about midnight killed 14 people in my family. It took the very essence of my life, my most precious beloveds, and marked me as a “survivor.”

“Go to the south, or we’ll bring this school down on your heads,” was the warning Israeli soldiers sent us when we first decided to leave our home in northern Gaza. At that point, my family had survived 40 long days of bombing, often receiving dozens of displaced people into our home. After that message, we were forced to flee.

Our first stop was a nearby UNRWA school. Those were our first steps in the journey of looking for an unclear notion called “safety.” We left and walked on foot for over six hours, into the sun. We eventually made it to the south, and in the end, my family was killed in the “safe” zone where the Israeli occupation had told us to go.

Killed at midnight

We survived nearly 100 days at my maternal uncle’s house in Khan Younis. This was not a better place for getting food or water, but it was supposed to be designated as “safe.” His house was located in Block 89, which the occupation designated as a “green” block. For this reason, we stayed there and did not flee. But we were already displaced.

The house was full of a dozen women and children, and on March 2, the intense bombing began at around 10:30 p.m..........more.........