Starving family killed in Gaza just hours after getting food aid

Omar Selma, a 38-year-old father of six, had exerted much effort to get a package of flour from the humanitarian aid delivery which entered the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The family had not eaten bread for three weeks due to the lack of food in the besieged enclave. But not long after he carried the flour to his family, they were all killed by Israeli occupation forces.

“The kind father would go to the Israeli checkpoint south of Gaza City to get some aid for his family every day since 7 January, when he told me that was the last day his children ate bread,” his 68-year-old father, Abu Omar, told MEMO.

“On Saturday evening, he came back home with a bright face and told me while he was smiling: ‘At last, my children will have bread tomorrow,’” he added.

“When I asked him,” Abu Omar explained, “he told me that he bought a 25kg pack of flour.”

“He told me he would also bring me some bread, but, unfortunately, he was killed along with his wife and children tonight before even baking or eating a piece of bread,” he continued, crying for the loss of his family.

Pointing at the bodies of the dead children, Omar’s neighbour Ali asked: “Are these [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu’s targets?!”

“He was happy with the flour he got yesterday, but I swear Omar and his children were killing while they were hungry.”

Read: Gaza aid blocked by Israeli protesters for fourth time