The Electronic Intifada 29 July 2024
At least 30 people were killed in Saturday’s massacre. (Ali Hamad / APA Images)
Muhammad Abu Seif rushed to the window as soon as he heard the explosion late on Saturday morning. For a few minutes, he could not see anything.
A thick cloud of dust blocked his view.
Once he could get a sense of what was happening, Muhammad was shocked to learn that Khadija Girls’ School had been attacked. The school was transformed into a field hospital during the earlier stages of the current genocidal war.
Many patients from al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital – also located in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza – had been receiving follow-up treatment at the school.
Muhammad went to the school so that he could assist the rescue efforts. On the way, he saw a mother screaming.
She was looking for someone with a car who could bring her to hospital. Her 1-year-old child had been wounded in the head by shrapnel.
Muhammad helped her to find a car, as blood poured from her infant’s head.
Then Muhammad rushed to the school.
“I saw women and men carrying patients, who had been injured previously during the war,” Muhammad said. “These patients were receiving treatment in the school, now they were being brought to the hospital.”
The scene inside the school was horrifying: There were body parts in the corridors.
It quickly became apparent that most of those killed were women and children. One girl had been split in two.
Muhammad learned that the wife of his friend had been killed. She had just given birth.
Her newborn baby could not be found.
As the rescue operation was taking place, a neighbor received a phone call. The caller ordered that the school be evacuated within 10 minutes.
Soon afterwards, the school was struck with two more missiles.
The school was completely destroyed.
Collecting flesh
Bilal al-Tum had been sheltering with his family in one of the school’s classrooms.
When the first airstrike occurred, he rushed to get his family out of the school, fearing that it would be targeted again. His family left their food, clothes and other belongings behind them.
Bilal helped with the rescue operation. The task involved collecting flesh and body parts and placing them in bags for burial.
One of the victims had been decapitated by the airstrike. The man had previously undergone a leg amputation during the current war.
Some of his limbs were also separated from his body in the attack.
Bilal saw a woman searching for her child’s head.
At least 30 people were killed in Saturday’s massacre. It was one of numerous Israeli attacks on schools and hospitals since the genocide began.
Bilal emphasized that Israel had carried out an attack on civilians.
“The only thing that could be found along with the murdered and injured were medicine, medical devices and some first aid equipment,” he said. “Nothing else.”
Bilal added that the scenes at the school were so horrific “they will stay in my head as long as I live.”
Basel Abu Kmeil was in the school when the attack occurred. He and his brother Muhammad were chatting to each other.
Muhammad had been receiving treatment at the school for leg injuries sustained when Israel targeted his home. Muhammad’s wife and children were killed in the attack on their home.
The first airstrike against the school took place without any warning. Basel grabbed his brother as soon as it happened and began reciting verses from the Quran.
Basel opened his eyes following the explosion but could not see anything through the dust.
When enough dust had cleared, he realized that his brother had been hit by shrapnel and was bleeding heavily.
“My brother lost consciousness in my arms and my clothes are now stained with his blood,” Basel said.
“I rushed out of the school so that I could take my brother to hospital,” he added. “But unfortunately I could not save him.”
Muhammad had wept every day since his wife and children were killed. His brother believes that he will be reunited with them in heaven.
Khuloud Rabah Sulaiman is a journalist living in Gaza.
