It has been the wish of photojournalist Abdul Rahman Zaqout, a photographer for Anadolu Agency, for 3 days, to make his sister Hiam Zaqout cry, who was martyred along with 12 of her family, when the occupation aircraft bombed the residential apartment in which they were displaced in Deir al-Balah.

Journalist Zaqout, who covered most of the events of the war on Gaza, told Al-Quds.com, sadness choking his words: “She is the beloved and favorite sister of my heart. Her passing shocked me. I wish I could cry for my sister Hiyam and her family. My chest is about to explode, but I cannot vent.” My anger and pain, I lost the ability to cry, and I have not slept for 3 days.”

He added: "This horrific crime deserves to be one of the first crimes presented to the International Criminal Court, along with all the crimes targeting journalists and their families, given that this peaceful, educated family has nothing to do with any political activity."

The Israeli occupation forces committed a massacre on Tuesday evening, which led to the death of 12 citizens. They wiped out an entire family by bombing an apartment belonging to the Salim family on Abu Arif Street in the center of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip.

Abdul Rahman Zaqout explains that the victims of the horrific massacre are in addition to his sister Hiyam Zaqout (55 years old), her husband, Dr. Hassan Abdullah Hamdan, a burn and plastic surgeon (64 years old), their son Muhammad (20 years old), their two grandchildren Hassan and Malek, sons of Dr. Osama, and their daughter Ghada’s two children. (25 years): Hanan and Rima Muhammad Al-Ghamri, Dr. Hassan’s brother and his wife Aya Tayseer Muhammad Hamdan (23 years), in addition to Hossam Salama Shehta, the baker and a passerby.

Zaqout pointed out that his sister Hiyam, her husband, and her family were displaced in their relatives’ family home in Deir al-Balah, specifically with their daughter’s husband, Ahmed Salim, who was martyred with his son Muhammad, while his other son, Mahmoud, was injured. As for his wife, Marwa, a computer engineer, she is undergoing intensive treatment in the hospital. Intensive care at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

According to journalist Zaqout, the survivors of the massacre are his sister’s daughter, Reem (18 years old), who is the youngest of the sons and daughters. She was admitted to intensive care. She is a computer student at Al-Azhar University. After she woke up and learned about the massacre, she cried and asked to see her grandmother, who is in Khan Yunis.

He continued: My sister’s son, Dr. Osama Hamdan, who was in the hospital, also survived, and engineer Abdullah, who was hanging laundry with his wife, and their sister, Ghada, who went to visit her husband at his sister’s house.

Eyewitnesses explained that ambulance and civil defense crews rushed to the place to evacuate the wounded and recover the bodies of the martyrs, confirming that a number of victims are still under the rubble, and ambulance and civil defense crews are working to reach them, while some areas are inaccessible.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced, shortly after this massacre, that the death toll in the Gaza Strip had risen to 37,925, and the death toll to 87,141 wounded, the majority of whom were children and women, while thousands of victims were still under the rubble, since the start of the Israeli occupation aggression on the 7th of May. Last October.