A Palestinian family walks past the debris from a building in the center of Gaza City hit by an earlier Israeli airstrike, on July 25, 2014. (Photo: AFP-Marco Longari)
Palestinian citizen, Mohammed al-Dayeh, had barely got over the Israeli massacre that wiped out his entire family back in 2009, when the Israeli war machine forced him to relive those memories, as military jets pounded his house during the current war on Gaza.
Gaza – In the early morning hours on January 6, 2009, Israeli military jets fired their missiles at the house of al-Dayeh family in al-Zaytoun neighborhood, to the east of Gaza, killing 24 people and injuring many others.
Mohammed survived but he lost his wife and four children, Amar, Amani, Arij and Youssef. Yet, his will to live prevailed. He remarried and had four children, all named after their siblings who were martyred six years ago.
“We rebuilt the house that was destroyed over the heads of my family, then I tried to bring life back, so I remarried and named my children after those who were martyred in that horrible massacre,” Mohammed toldAl-Akhbar.
Expressing his fear of reliving the nightmare of losing his children, Mohammed said, “I worry about them a lot, the occupation is attempting to steal them away from me again.”
In this current Israeli onslaught, some of his family members were wounded when an Israeli drone fired a missile at his rebuilt house. “I was with my children in the hall, and suddenly the house shook and we heard a loud explosion.”
In that moment, Mohammed relived the tragedy that hit his late family. The [house] shaking and the sound of the explosion brought back old memories that he had tried so hard to forget. He still does not remember how he was able to carry his four children and run away with his wife. A few seconds later, the drone fired three more missiles at his house, destroying it completely.
The force of the explosion pushed Mohammed to the ground and he was mildly injured with his children.
“At that moment, I was checking on my children and calling on them and on my wife. I forgot my own wounds when they all answered,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed and his family are now being treated for their injuries. However, he will have to undergo long-term psychological treatment to get over the repercussions of this incident, especially as he has not yet returned to his normal life since 2009.
“After the first attack [on my family], I had a very rough time, I used sleeping pills and antidepressants,” Mohammed told Al-Akhbar.
“Although God has given me other children, I still, until this day, visit the graves of my children who were martyred and I remember all our times together, I do not know how will I ever get over what happened to me in this war,” he added.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
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