I was born on 08 June 1977, married with 5 children, and an employee at the Palestinian Aviation Authority. I lived in a 3-storey house in al-Qararah in eastern Khan Younis with my family and my 88-year-old father, who is sick and has been on a wheelchair due to a previous stroke.  

After the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) launched their war on the Gaza Strip on 07 October 2023 and because I lived in a border area that was too dangerous due to the relentless bombardment, electricity outage, scarce water supplies and possible incursion into the area, my family and I decided to evacuate to a 4-story house belonging to my father and uncle, ‘Abdullah ‘Abdel Ghaffar ‘Abdel Ghafour, on Shubair Street in central Khan Younis.  

In the beginning of December 2024, my sister, Samiah, her husband, Monir Mahmoud ‘Abdel Ghafour and their 7 kids, including 5 children, as well as my sister, Samirah, married to Yasser Ahmed ‘Abdel Ghafour, and her 4 kids, including 3 children, evacuated from al-Satar al-Gharbi area after IOF published their block’s number among the areas that must be evacuated.  At the time, IOF had already started its ground invasion into the outskirts of Khan Younis and al-Qararah.  We all lived in the family house and many of my relatives starting to flow into the house that became overcrowded with displaced people.

On 07 December 2023, we learnt that houses of cousins, sons of my deceased aunt Mariam Zaki ‘Abdel Ghafour, were bombed as they refused to evacuate and stayed in their houses in al-Satar al-Gharbi.  As a result, 36 persons, mostly children and women, were killed and there are still bodies missing under the rubble.

On 11 December 2023, IOF expanded their evacuation orders to include the family house we were staying in, so we had to evacuate again and were separated. I went with my father, sister and her kids, my aunt, Fatimah Zaki ‘Abdel Ghafour, her husband and 12 of her kids and grandsons, to a poultry farm belonging to a family member namely Ziad ‘Abdel Ghafour in al-Mawasi area, northwestern Khan Younis, as it was declared by IOF as a safe area.  we took as many of our belongings as we could to the farm, which was a shed comprised of an iron arc and covered with nylon sheets.  We were many families and there was only one bathroom so we built another one.  Meanwhile, my wife, Eman Hasan Abu Shaqrah (47), went with my sons, Mohammed (21), Mahmoud (20), Ahmed (14), ‘Abdulatif (7) and ‘Omer (4) and her family to southern Khan Younis.

We lived in deplorable living conditions, suffering the shivering cold and limited access to food, water and healthcare not to mention the Israeli artillery shelling from time to time, especially after IOF’s incursion into eastern Hamad Housing Project, which is 2 kilometers away from the eastern side of the poultry farm. 

While I was in the farm, I learnt that on 25 December 2023, my 21-year-old son, Mohammed, a collage student, was killed with 3 others from his mother’s family, Abu Shaqrah, in al-Sheikh Naser area, central Khan Younis.  As a result, my wife and sons came to stay with me in al-Mawasi, where families were displaced in the farm and nearby tents.

At around 04:40 on Sunday, 10 March 2024, IOF stationed in western Hamad Housing Project, western Khan Younis, fired several artillery shells at our area.  The shells were insanely and terrifyingly showering the area; the first shell hit Monir Mahmoud ‘Abdel Ghafour, my sister, Samia’s, husband, and his kids, Afnan (16), Shaimaa’ (15), Doha (13) and Mahmoud (10), and killed all of them.

We then tried to get out of the area and just on our way out, IOF fired another shell, seriously wounding me with shrapnel that entered my back and exited the chest.  As a result, I sustained lung laceration, rib fractures and shrapnel wounds in different parts of my body.

We were left to bleed until 06:30 when we were evacuated by civilian cars as ambulances were not able to enter the area due the relentless bombardment.  We were taken to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where I was admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 3 days.

I knew later that my 20-year-old son, Mahmoud, a university student, was killed as well in that attack.  I have lost 2 of my sons in this war while my wife sustained shrapnel wounds in her foot and received medical treatment at Gaza European Hospital.

Also, due to the indiscriminate violent artillery shelling on the farm and its vicinity, the family chief, Sedqi Hamdi ‘Abdel Ghafour (72), my aunt’s husband, was killed along with his 33-year-old son Ahmed (he succumbed to his injury the next day), and his 35-year-old daughter, Najwa, (who had a hearing impairment) while Ilham Younis ‘Abdel Karim ‘Abdel Ghafour (23) and an elderly man from al-‘Asouli family, in-laws of our family, were killed.  Also, many of my relatives and others were wounded, including my 75-year-old aunt, Maqboulah Zaki ‘Abdel Ghafour, noting she was the wife of my uncle, ‘Abdullah, who evacuated with us along with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and their child to al-Mawasi.

Questions to the eyewitness and his answers as follows:

• Have the area witnessed any clashes or have you seen any armed person in the area?
• No.  All incidents were in Hamad Housing Project, which was 2 kilometers away from us.  Also, we were targeted by indiscriminate artillery shells fired by IOF who had moved into Hamad Housing Project in the beginning of March 2024.
• Have you been warned to evacuate the area before it was shelled?
• No, we have not been warned not given a notice and the shelling was violent and occurred all of a sudden. 
• Do you have anything else to say?
• Yes, I want to say that we were all civilians and deliberately targeted to inflict high number of casualties among us, especially that the place we were displaced to was located in an area that IOF have dubbed as a safe zone to seek shelter in, which is al-Mawasi area.

Up to this date, we still suffer from displacement, relentless bombardment and destruction that has hit our houses, as we have become homeless and we do not feel safe anymore, in constant fear for my life and my family’s, as there is no safe place in the whole Gaza Strip.  What I only want now is for this war and genocide to stop against the civilians in the Gaza Strip.

• I hereby give my affidavit to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ lawyer via my cell phone (number 0594200281) to use it before the international and local authorities as they deem it appropriate.