By Abdallah Aljamal – Gaza
“They committed no wrongdoing in their lives. The occupation took them away, and now my home has become dark and empty in their absence”.
On March 19, Israeli forces bombed the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, targeting a civilian car at the entrance of a building run by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees UNRWA.
Two little sisters, Shireen and Maram Abu Yousef, were instantly killed.
The Palestine Chronicle spoke with Raed, the girls’ father, who is still in shock after the murder of his two daughters. He told us that he can not comprehend that his girls are gone forever.
“It was before the Iftar time, on the ninth day of the blessed month of Ramadan,” Raed Abu Yousef said.
“Shireen and Maran were sent to deliver the Iftar meal to their uncle, Eyad, who works in securing humanitarian aid,” he continued.
“About ten minutes before the Maghrib call to prayer, my two daughters were martyred in the Israeli airstrike.”
Maram, 12 years old, was in seventh grade, while Shireen was 8 years old, and she was in fourth grade.
“They committed no wrongdoing in their lives. The occupation took them away, and now my home has become dark and empty in their absence,” Abu Yousef continued.
“I still can’t believe that I lost them, but the occupation has no mercy: they already killed thousands of children throughout the six months of war.”
A Life of Pain
“Two years ago, I lost my son Walid to cancer and I only had 3 daughters left. These girls were my entire life,” Aby Yousef continued, in tears.
“On that tragic day, Shireen and Maram hurried to deliver the Iftar meal to their uncle Eyad. All my children loved their uncle Eyad dearly, and they missed him. Eyad worked in the Palestinian police force in securing humanitarian aid, and we haven’t seen him for a long time. So, my daughters insisted on going there and seeing their uncle.”
Abu Raed told us that their mother hesitated to let them go, but she was reassured by friends and neighbors: after all, the uncle worked at an UNRWA center, in the middle of the camp, and that place should have been safe. So, the mother agreed.
“They were killed only half an hour after they left the house,” Abu Yousef said.
“They managed to deliver the Iftar meal to their uncle Eyad, sat with him for a while, hugged him, said their goodbyes and returned home.”
A family friend and neighbor, Mahmoud Al-Bayoumi, who was also a police officer at the Nuseirat center, saw them and offered them a ride home.
“Shireeen and Maram got into Mahmoud’s car, a white Fiat Panda, along with our young neighbor Anas Shukr, who also works in aid security,” Abu Yousef told us.
“Just a few meters away from the UNRWA center, about ten minutes before Maghrib, the occupation bombed the car, and everyone inside was martyred instantly.”
“Shireen and Maram were martyred while they were still fasting. I would have never expected that this would be their last act in this world,” the man said, now his voice growing more desperate.
“My brother Issam was martyred during the first intifada, my brother Omar in March 2003, and my brother Walid in March 2008. My little son Walid passed away from cancer after several years of suffering. And now, my daughters Shireen and Maram were also martyred,” he said.
“The occupation must be brought to trial, and this war must be stopped immediately,” he pleaded.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Abdallah Aljamal is a Gaza-based journalist. He is a correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle in the Gaza Strip.
