Khan Younis, Gaza
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Tamer Abu Assi was getting ready breakfast for his two younger boys Saturday morning when he realized he had run out of firewood. Fadi, 8, and Jumaa, 10, went out to fetch some, as their father is paralyzed and wheelchair-bound.
They by no means got here again.
Abu Assi was ready for them to return so he might set the desk, when close by residents rushed to his shelter saying two youngsters had been focused and killed by Israeli troops.
“Are they my children?” he recalled asking.
An agonizing wait ensued, as he went to determine the our bodies.
“I removed the shroud and hugged them. My little Juju’s head was blown off; God rest his soul… His arms were severed and parts of his torso were gone,” he stated, trembling. “Fadi’s right hand and left leg were cut off,” he added.
Jumaa and Fadi were killed by an Israeli drone strike within the city of Bani Suheila, to the east of their shelter in Khan Younis, in response to the household.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged finishing up the strike in a press release, calling the children “two suspects who crossed the yellow line, conducted suspicious activities on the ground, and approached IDF troops operating in the southern Gaza Strip, posing an immediate threat to them.”
“Following the identification, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) eliminated the suspects in order to remove the threat,” it continued.
Bani Suheila falls in territory occupied by Israeli forces in Gaza to the east of the so-called “yellow line.” But with few markers on the bottom, it may be troublesome to differentiate the contours of that line. Since the ceasefire went into impact in October, Palestinians have been killed regularly by Israeli forces alongside the invisible demarcation line. The Israeli army has repeatedly described them as “terrorists” who’re “posing an immediate threat.”
The deaths of the 2 children add to a Gaza demise toll that’s nonetheless rising seven weeks into the ceasefire. Over the weekend, the Palestinian Ministry of Health stated greater than 70,000 individuals have been killed because the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault in Israel, together with greater than 10,000 girls and 20,000 children.
The quantity has steadily climbed as emergency crews get well our bodies from the rubble. More than 600 our bodies have been retrieved because the ceasefire started, in response to the ministry, however the quantity continues to be anticipated to rise dramatically. Gaza’s Civil Defense has estimated that there are 10,000 our bodies buried beneath the rubble all through the shattered enclave.
In addition, greater than 350 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces because the ceasefire started, the ministry stated.
A new report printed by The Platform, a coalition of 13 Israeli human rights organizations, concluded that 2025 noticed “wider, deeper and unprecedented harm” to Palestinian human rights in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The report, obtained by NCS, described a “profound shift” within the nature of the conflict and “Israel’s mechanisms of control” this 12 months, one by which it stated “extreme violations became standard operating procedure.”
The day earlier than Jumaa was killed, he requested his father to sing his favourite music for him. Abu Assi wasn’t feeling too properly and advised him he would do it after his medical checkup the subsequent day.
“I told him, come with me to the checkup and I’ll sing all your favorite songs for you, my son,” Abu Assi stated, remembering the ultimate reminiscence of his children, as tears streamed down his face.