Palestinian father tells his only baby: ‘No one remained with me except you’

Palestinian father Mohammad Al-Hadidi, who lost all of his family in an Israeli strike on his house in Gaza, hugging his baby in ICU, saying: “No one remained with me except you.”

Al-Hadidi lost his 36-year-old wife Maha, his sons Sohaib, 13, Yahya, 11, Abdul-Rahman, 8, Usama, 6, while they were on a visit to their uncle’s house to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr.

“They went to God,” AP reported the father telling his son. “We will not stay here for a long time. We will follow them, me and you. I hope that we follow them in a short time,” he continued.

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“They wore the Eid clothes and took their toys to their uncle’s house. They phone-called me to give them permission to stay with their uncle during the night. I agreed.”

“I remained alone and then went to sleep. Suddenly, I woke up [to] a sound of a huge explosion that shook the whole neighbourhood.”

“I remained in shock hearing other explosions and attacks in the densely populated refugee camp in the west of Gaza city.”

“I received a phone call telling me that the huge explosion was an attack on the house of my brother-in-law,” he said. “Immediately, I ran towards the house to see the civil defence teams evacuating dead bodies from under the rubble.”

Al-Hadidi is waiting for his baby, who has suffered three fractures to his right leg and several bruises to his face, to leave hospital. “I will take care [of] him by myself,” he said.

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“Israel strikes homes which include children without even a warning,” he said. “What is the fault of these children to be killed this way?”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that at least 13 families has been wiped out as a result of Israel’s aggression.

Since the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza on 10 May, 213 Palestinians have been killed, including 61 children.