٠٠:٠٥:١١A grieving Palestinian father described how he had returned from collecting the birth certificates for his newborn twins, only to find his wife and children had been killed in an attack on Khan Younis, in footage recorded on Thursday.
"I was leaving home heading to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to obtain the birth certificate for my twins Aser and Isel," explained Mohamed Abu al-Qumsan, speaking from a camp for displaced people. "Later, I got a call, it said 'Mohamed, are you okay?' I replied, 'Yeah, I'm fine,' and asked, 'what's happened?' He said to me, 'Mohamed, are you unaware that your house was bombed?'"
"My family was in the mortuary refrigerator at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital," he added. "Why have they been killed for? I don't know…My wife is a doctor; what connection does she have to military action, or even what harm could children cause to the Israeli occupation?"
According to reports, his wife Jumana Arafa had announced the birth of the twins in a Facebook post just days earlier. Footage also shows Abu al-Qumsan looking at photos of his children and holding their birth certificates and some of their belongings.
"They (the Israeli military) smashed my joy and broke my heart; my children did not even have the chance to wear their new clothes," he continued. "This is their clothes bag with the rocket shrapnel on them…Every piece we chose has a story, but they didn't wear any. They stole my joy with my kids, who are just three days old; they were born on August 10 and martyred on August 13."
He revealed he had barely slept in three days and was living in a 'nightmare'.
"I have no idea what will happen to me or what to do. I do not have relatives here; my mother and siblings are accompanying my father, who is receiving cancer treatment in Egypt, and I am alone with my sister here," he added.
The video featuring the first moments he found out about the death of his family is also available on this site.
In a statement, the IDF said that the "details of the incident as published are not yet known," adding that it "exclusively targets military targets and takes several precautions to reduce injury to civilians."
On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced that its troops had continued with "operational activities in central Gaza. The troops dismantled Hamas terror infrastructure, as well as sniper and observation posts. In addition, IDF troops continue operational activities in the area of Khan Younis."
"Over the past day (Tuesday), the IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck over 40 terror infrastructure sites throughout the Gaza Strip, including structures from which terrorists fired anti-tank missiles, and terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops," it added.
Fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is in its tenth month. Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, the Israeli army's large-scale offensive has killed 40,005 and injured 92,401 others, according to the Palestinian side at time of publication.
'Broke my heart' - Palestinian father collecting birth certificates for newborn twins returns to find family wiped out in shelling
A grieving Palestinian father described how he had returned from collecting the birth certificates for his newborn twins, only to find his wife and children had been killed in an attack on Khan Younis, in footage recorded on Thursday.
"I was leaving home heading to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to obtain the birth certificate for my twins Aser and Isel," explained Mohamed Abu al-Qumsan, speaking from a camp for displaced people. "Later, I got a call, it said 'Mohamed, are you okay?' I replied, 'Yeah, I'm fine,' and asked, 'what's happened?' He said to me, 'Mohamed, are you unaware that your house was bombed?'"
"My family was in the mortuary refrigerator at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital," he added. "Why have they been killed for? I don't know…My wife is a doctor; what connection does she have to military action, or even what harm could children cause to the Israeli occupation?"
According to reports, his wife Jumana Arafa had announced the birth of the twins in a Facebook post just days earlier. Footage also shows Abu al-Qumsan looking at photos of his children and holding their birth certificates and some of their belongings.
"They (the Israeli military) smashed my joy and broke my heart; my children did not even have the chance to wear their new clothes," he continued. "This is their clothes bag with the rocket shrapnel on them…Every piece we chose has a story, but they didn't wear any. They stole my joy with my kids, who are just three days old; they were born on August 10 and martyred on August 13."
He revealed he had barely slept in three days and was living in a 'nightmare'.
"I have no idea what will happen to me or what to do. I do not have relatives here; my mother and siblings are accompanying my father, who is receiving cancer treatment in Egypt, and I am alone with my sister here," he added.
The video featuring the first moments he found out about the death of his family is also available on this site.
In a statement, the IDF said that the "details of the incident as published are not yet known," adding that it "exclusively targets military targets and takes several precautions to reduce injury to civilians."
On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced that its troops had continued with "operational activities in central Gaza. The troops dismantled Hamas terror infrastructure, as well as sniper and observation posts. In addition, IDF troops continue operational activities in the area of Khan Younis."
"Over the past day (Tuesday), the IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck over 40 terror infrastructure sites throughout the Gaza Strip, including structures from which terrorists fired anti-tank missiles, and terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops," it added.
Fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is in its tenth month. Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, the Israeli army's large-scale offensive has killed 40,005 and injured 92,401 others, according to the Palestinian side at time of publication.
A grieving Palestinian father described how he had returned from collecting the birth certificates for his newborn twins, only to find his wife and children had been killed in an attack on Khan Younis, in footage recorded on Thursday.
"I was leaving home heading to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to obtain the birth certificate for my twins Aser and Isel," explained Mohamed Abu al-Qumsan, speaking from a camp for displaced people. "Later, I got a call, it said 'Mohamed, are you okay?' I replied, 'Yeah, I'm fine,' and asked, 'what's happened?' He said to me, 'Mohamed, are you unaware that your house was bombed?'"
"My family was in the mortuary refrigerator at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital," he added. "Why have they been killed for? I don't know…My wife is a doctor; what connection does she have to military action, or even what harm could children cause to the Israeli occupation?"
According to reports, his wife Jumana Arafa had announced the birth of the twins in a Facebook post just days earlier. Footage also shows Abu al-Qumsan looking at photos of his children and holding their birth certificates and some of their belongings.
"They (the Israeli military) smashed my joy and broke my heart; my children did not even have the chance to wear their new clothes," he continued. "This is their clothes bag with the rocket shrapnel on them…Every piece we chose has a story, but they didn't wear any. They stole my joy with my kids, who are just three days old; they were born on August 10 and martyred on August 13."
He revealed he had barely slept in three days and was living in a 'nightmare'.
"I have no idea what will happen to me or what to do. I do not have relatives here; my mother and siblings are accompanying my father, who is receiving cancer treatment in Egypt, and I am alone with my sister here," he added.
The video featuring the first moments he found out about the death of his family is also available on this site.
In a statement, the IDF said that the "details of the incident as published are not yet known," adding that it "exclusively targets military targets and takes several precautions to reduce injury to civilians."
On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced that its troops had continued with "operational activities in central Gaza. The troops dismantled Hamas terror infrastructure, as well as sniper and observation posts. In addition, IDF troops continue operational activities in the area of Khan Younis."
"Over the past day (Tuesday), the IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck over 40 terror infrastructure sites throughout the Gaza Strip, including structures from which terrorists fired anti-tank missiles, and terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops," it added.
Fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is in its tenth month. Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, the Israeli army's large-scale offensive has killed 40,005 and injured 92,401 others, according to the Palestinian side at time of publication.