"It Was an Annihilation. In Every Sense of the Word."

This installation is part of a new series where State of Siege will try to share as many voices from Gaza as possible. Please continue to support the writers sharing their stories. Their work, their words, their lives have so much meaning. May they be our covenant to create a better world.

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#Gaza

Midnight

At exactly 12:00 a.m., the ground shook with a terrifying explosion.

The sound of the missile was like the sky splitting in two.

My sister Qamar was sleeping beside me. I panicked, afraid the target was our tent.

I jumped up and wrapped my arms around her, as if my embrace alone could shield her from the fire of the missile.

The strike was terrifyingly close no more than 30 or 40 meters away.

I ran toward the site, my heart racing ahead of me, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.

It was an annihilation. in every sense of the word.

Flames devoured everything. Tents were burning, the air was thick with the smell of blood and gunpowder, and the ground was strewn with the bodies of martyrs.

The first thing I saw: eight lifeless bodies laid on the ground.

Three were decapitated, their corpses burned beyond recognition.

The others were torn apart into unrecognizable pieces.

I stepped forward and saw a father clutching his little daughter-she couldn't have been more than three years old.

She was martyred, her legs amputated.

He wept and screamed, holding her like his entire world had just been destroyed.

My eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. This was not a scene from a horror movie it was straight from the heart of hell.

What happened cannot be described with words. This is not just a crime. It is a stain on the conscience of all humanity. We are dying every day. Being erased headless, faceless, nameless. We are not asking for miracles. We just want to live as human beings.

What is happening is unbearable and it should never be reduced to a passing headline or a number in a report. This is my testimony. from the heart of the fire.

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