25-06-2015
One missile targeting the house of Bassam Mohamed Al Neirab destroyed four homes in the dense Rafah refugee camp, resulting in the killing of eight members of three different families. Bassam and Fathi Al Neirab are close friends since they were children and say that they support the Palestinian Authority.
Fathi Abu 'Ayta, a 45-year-old English teacher, with his five-year old son Anas on top of the ruins of their home. Fathi lost three sons in the attack: Ibrahim (10), Ahmed (7), and Mohammed (5). Anas and Mohammed were twins.
“Everything was destroyed, except for the handbag of my wife which flew to my neighbours' house and was returned to me”, explains Fathi.
A photo of the four brothers from the Abu 'Ayta family: from left to right, Anas (5) who survived, Mohammed (5), Ibrahim (10) and Ahmed (7).
“My wife, thankfully, was squashed between two mattresses, and was protected. My neighours had to remove the walls off of me. I was choking and felt that I was suffocating. I could not breathe. I was about to lose consciousness. Ahmad, Mohammed and Ibrahim were all killed. Ahmad and Mohammed were cut into pieces”, recalls Fathi.
A photo of Ibrahim. His brother Anas was thought to be dead and was placed in a vegetable freezer. But Bassam’s brother who was present noticed that there was air coming out of his nose. “We saw Anas after more than a week. We were overjoyed to see him,” explains Fathi
Deema (14), Leena (15), and Anas (5) walk amidst the ruins of their home. They were buried under the rubble but survived. “I remember everything before I fell unconscious,” says Leena.
From left to right: Leena (15); Anas (5), and Deema (14). Leena is a top student in her class and was selected to study at the US for one year.
At approximately 2:45am on Saturday 2 August 2014, an Israeli warplane fired one missile targeting the house of Bassam Mohamed Al Neirab. As a result, the house and three adjacent houses belonging to Fat’hi Abu 'Ayta, Ibrahim Al Manyarawi, and the Al Neirab family were destroyed. Eight people were killed from three families, including six children. They were identified by Al Mezan as: