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PALESTINE

Sat 15 Mar 2025 1:32 pm - Jerusalem Time

They were run over by tanks.. A Palestinian woman recounts the horrific details of the killing of her relatives

"I collected my father's remains in Qahsha and Karik," are the painful words Kholoud Hassan used to begin her account of the horrific killing of her parents and dozens of her relatives and neighbors in the recent military invasion of the Zeitoun refugee camp east of Gaza City.


The story of Kholoud, whose family refused to move to the central and southern Gaza Strip during the war, is one of hundreds of painful stories, particularly in light of the violent military operations carried out by the Israeli army across various areas of the Gaza Strip, which led to massive destruction throughout the Strip.


The war has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of Gazans, while nearly two million others have been displaced to the central and southern Gaza Strip. Local sources confirm that thousands of families have been completely erased from the civil registry due to the war.


Hassan told Sky News Arabia that during the Israeli army's recent incursion into the Zeitoun neighborhood, the family was trapped in their residential area near the Dawla Junction on Salah al-Din Street, noting that the army completely destroyed the area.


She explained that "at the beginning of the invasion, the Israeli army destroyed a neighbor's home, which housed approximately 58 people, killing them all," noting that their bodies are still buried under the rubble of the house and other destroyed homes in the neighborhood.


She noted that the Israeli military operation also resulted in the deaths of 10 members of her family after part of their home was destroyed. She explained that those who survived were unable to treat the injured, which increased the death toll.


She continued, "I saw with my own eyes some family members die due to the difficulty of reaching hospitals. Three of my cousins were dying, and I was unable to provide them with emergency care," stressing that the tight blockade prevented this.


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"We were trapped inside the house for several days, and then we decided to leave, waving the white flag, to search for a safe place in light of the shortages of food, medicine, and water," she added, noting that she was with her parents and the rest of the family inside the house.


She continued, "As soon as we arrived near the neighborhood mosque, Israeli tanks fired at us, killing my father and mother instantly." She noted that they were forced to flee and return home under the pressure of the military operation and the Israeli siege.

She noted that she "witnessed an Israeli tank run over her parents after shooting them, seriously wounding them. Their bodies were shattered and they died without taking into account their advanced age."


According to Hassan, she and a small number of family members were forced to remain in the house until the Israeli military operation ended. Immediately after the Israeli army's limited withdrawal from the area, she returned to the site where her parents were killed.


She explained that she was forced to collect the remains of her parents using simple, primitive tools, such as a jack and a pickaxe, especially since his body was completely destroyed after being run over by an Israeli tank. She noted that their bodies were intertwined with each other, leaving only a small amount of them.


"During the Israeli military operation, I was exposed to death more than once and remained for long hours under the rubble of a house, but the help of my relatives saved me," she added, expressing her deep sorrow for the extremely difficult experience she had gone through during the war.


Hassan calls for holding Israel accountable for its crimes against civilians in Gaza, especially since it has been directly targeting residential areas and neighborhoods. She noted that she will work to demand justice for her parents and all her relatives.

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They were run over by tanks.. A Palestinian woman recounts the horrific details of the killing of her relatives

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