Palestinian Victims of Israeli War Crimes Speak Out

From apartheid Israel’s Cast Lead aggression (2008-09) to Pillar of Defense (2012) to Protective Edge (2014) to preemptive war against defenseless Gazans from May 6 – 21, 2021, Palestinians have been terrorized repeatedly by Jewish state criminals — for wanting to live on their own land in their own country, free from foreign occupation.

Gaza is an Israeli-caused humanitarian crisis with no end of it in prospect.

Over two million Gazans are virtually held captive by apartheid viciousness in the world’s largest open-air prison.

Impoverished and threatened by a ruthless occupier, they’re forced to endure inhuman conditions — while the world community yawns and pretends not to notice.

In 2015, the UN Conference on Trade and Development said if Israel’s blockade and cross-border attacks don’t end, Gaza will be unlivable for its people by 2020.

Nearly two years later, instead of easing its draconian-imposed conditions, Israel hardened them.

As a result, the Strip is more greatly deteriorated than earlier. Its people suffer horrifically from Israeli state-terror with intent to immiserate them.

Yet the Netanyahu and Bennett regimes claimed that the Jewish state has no humanitarian obligations to the lives and well-being of Gaza residents.

They’re isolated from the West Bank and world community as virtual Israeli prisoners.

About 80% of Gazans depend on humanitarian aid to survive.

Most suffer from food insecurity, Most are unemployed or way-underemployed.

Essential infrastructure and public services are lacking.

Electricity is available for only a few hours a day.

Most Gazans have to buy desalinated water because what’s pumped into the Strip is almost entirely unpotable and too hazardous to health to drink.

Healthcare for its residents is far less than what’s needed for lack of resources to provide it.

Gazans approaching too close to border fences risk being lethally  shot by Israeli soldiers guarding what separates Gaza from life on the other side.

Life in the Strip exposes its residents to daily dangers from a hostile occupier.

The worst of times is when Israel invents pretexts to attack Gaza and its residents.

Recalling the horrors and agony of a year ago this month, B’Tselem gave voice to Gazans who lost loved ones and homes from 11 days of intense Israeli terror-bombing last May.

Zarifah a-Tanani recalled the horror of losing her son and his family, saying:

“They were innocent victims murdered in cold blood.”

Why did Israel kill them? They threatened no one.

“The grief is hard to bear. I hope the world listens to us.” 

“We’ve been killed time and again throughout history.” 

“Are we not human beings? The world must stand by us in solidarity with us.” 

“We must be given our rights.”

Israeli terror-bombing last May killed Dunia ‘Asaliyah’s 10-year-old daughter.

“An Israeli missile tore her to bits near our home,” she explained.

“When I heard the loud explosion of the missile that probably hit Dima, I screamed.” 

“I choked up and was terrified.”

“When my husband told me that Dima was dead, my  heart hurt and I felt that I was suffocating. I was in shock.”

“It’s been a year since Dima was killed, and all we have is the memories still alive within us.” 

“I miss her all the time. The neighborhood kids and her friends miss her, too.” 

“My husband thinks of Dima every day, especially on Fridays, when the whole family’s present except for her.”

Sahar al-Far’awi lost her son, Adam, a year ago “when Israel bombed our home and he burned to death before our very eyes.” 

“The whole western part of the house burned down and is no longer habitable.” 

“Adam fought for his life for about six hours at a-Shifaa Hospital, and then the doctors informed us of his death.” 

“The news hit us like a bolt of lightning.”

“Since Adam’s death, I’ve felt like I’m living in a nightmare and waiting to wake up.” 

“My health is ruined. I’m at medical clinics every day.” 

“My soul aches over losing my son. Every day, I tell myself that tomorrow will be easier, but it doesn’t help, nothing changes.”

“We filed for damages over his killing, but haven’t heard anything back so far.” 

“It’s as if my son’s death is meaningless, a thing of the past.”

“What kind of conscience does he have, the person who killed him?”

“I want to stand before him and ask, “Was my son Adam a target? Did he endanger you in any way?” 

“Adam was sleeping in bed, in his bedroom! I hope God doesn’t forgive you for killing my son, my heart and soul.”

Shukri al-Kolak lost his wife, three children and 18 relatives  — including his father — when Israel terror-bombed four buildings, killing 46 Gazans last May.

He was trapped under rubble for 12 hours before rescued, hospitalized and saved from death.

Since the horror he endured, he lives “with the constant pain and loss of staying alive while they were killed.” 

“My life is no longer worth living. It’s bleak. I see everything in black,” he said. 

“I had a family and used to love life, but now I’m a shadow of my former self.” 

“Ever since my wife and children were killed, I’ve felt hollow.”

“My wife and I lived for our children, raising them in the hope of seeing them grow up and succeed in life.”

Now they’re gone. The Israeli regime “wiped out our lives.”

“They killed innocent civilians and left others homeless, without any justification.”

“We live in stress and anxiety, constantly afraid that a war will break out again, that houses will be bombed and civilians killed.” 

“No one is safe here, not even inside their own homes.” 

“The world must stand by us so we can live safely without more victims.”

Israeli terror-bombing destroyed Rodayna a-Sharafi’s home.

Her husband and daughter were trapped under rubble.

Rescue teams got them out, but since becoming homeless her life “completely changed.”

Her health and her husband’s greatly deteriorated.

Their daughter “has nightmares and wakes up screaming.” 

“Even during the day, when she hears a noise, she panics and yells.”

“Things are only getting worse, and there doesn’t seem to be a solution on the horizon.”

Israeli terror-bombing destroyed Sanaa ‘Issa’s house and everything in it.

“I can’t process what’s happening to us,” she said. 

“My children keep asking when our house will be rebuilt and when we’ll be able to live in it again.” 

“Sometimes I feel like putting up a tent where the house stood and just living there.”

Nothing was done to rebuild what she and her family lost.

The “situation is very hard for me mentally.” 

“I’m so worried and sad about my home and what has happened to us that it’s hard for me to sleep or eat.”

Virtually all Gazans old enough to understand the horror of Israeli occupation, its preemptive wars, cross-border shelling, incursions into the Strip at its discretion have horror stories to tell about what they experienced.

It’s been this way for years with no relief because the world community doesn’t give a damn about human suffering — just wealth, power and privilege alone at the expense of most others.