Photos: London-based academic Saddam Zourob (top left), lost many family members to Israel’s indiscriminate airstrikes. Among the dead in his family are many of his cousin’s children, including (pictured) Abdullah Ahmed, 1; Bilal Ahmed, 18 months; Hala Bilal, 11; Hamsa Bilal, 18 months; Ibrahim Abdullah, 2; Mohammed Abdullah, 10; Mohammed Ahmed, 10; Musa Abdullah, 6; and Seba Bilal, 9. (Photo courtesy of Saddam Zourob)
British Palestinians, who lost family members to Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, pleaded with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to press Israel for an urgent ceasefire to avert further killings of innocent civilians.
At a press conference in London on November 3, families stressed the need to protect civilians, first responders, and essential facilities such as hospitals and schools.
The family members condemned the policy pursued by the Israeli occupation army, which targeted countless civilians in the enclave and resulted in the erasure of “entire families from the civil registry.”
In a joint statement, they elaborated on the “deliberate bombing of residential buildings, homes, schools, churches, mosques, and hospitals, in which there were families and children, most of whom were forcibly displaced from their homes in search of safety.”
They also denounced the “brutal siege policy imposed by the occupation forces on more than 2 million Palestinians, by cutting off water, food, and medicine supplies to the Gaza Strip, in addition to cutting off electricity, communications, and internet networks, and continuous and indiscriminate bombing of safe residential buildings.”
The bereaved families called on Sunak’s government to “take action for an immediate ceasefire, allow urgent humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, as well as evacuate their families stuck in Gaza to the UK, and allow the transfer of injured Palestinian children in need of urgent treatment in UK hospitals.”
The Muslim News presents vivid and emotional testimonials by British Palestinians about the fate of their loved ones in Gaza and harrowing details of how family members perished in Israeli bombings.
Wafaa Shamlakh
There aren’t enough words to express the pain of grief and loss that we all feel. I have tragically lost 23 members of my family in Gaza. Five were children. There is an unimaginable pain in my heart that just won’t go away. On October 8, an Israeli airstrike hit my uncle Abdul Nasir Shamlakh’s house without warning, killing the entire family.
My uncle, his wife, Suha, their sons, Ahmed, Marwan, Assad, Mohammed, Yazan, his daughter-in-law, and her two sons, Abdul Nasir and Omar, all ten, were buried under the rubble when their three-story house was demolished [by Israeli bombing] in a matter of seconds.
They were innocent civilians with aspirations and dreams, like everybody else here. Baby Omar just started his life, his baby shower was a few months ago, only for him to be found in his mother’s arms. She cuddled him until his last breath.
His brother, Abdul Nasir, was just 2 years old. Ahmed, my cousin, named him after his dad, hoping that one day he would follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps.
Yazan, 10, was playing with my children when I visited Gaza in the summer of 2022. He dreamed of travelling around the world and even visiting us here in the UK.
So bad was the bomb that hit the family’s house that his remains have yet to be found.
The rescue team said nobody made it out alive. My aunt Suha, who had the kindest heart, truly was the sweetest, most giving, and most caring person. And it’s always those that we lose. My uncle was a very happy man. He had a very good sense of humour. I can’t imagine that I will not see him or his family again.
Two weeks later, after this heartbreak, another massacre occurred when an airstrike hit a low house. That’s where my cousin Haya lives, with her husband and baby girl. Haya was killed, along with her baby girl and her unborn baby. My peace only comes from knowing that she is in heaven and has joined her family — her dad, mother, brothers, sister-in-law, and nephews.
Just as I thought I could maybe get over this heartache of losing all these people in my family, I came to find my cousin witnessed a bomb blow up her children, Mohammed and Ramzi, 13 and 17.
This is not a fair fight. This is genocide. I will continue this fight. I will be the voice of every person in my family murdered by the Israeli occupation that has been going on for over 75 years.
The dehumanisation of Palestinians is no longer acceptable because we can see what’s going on.
We are the eyes, voice, and heart of Palestine. We call for a ceasefire. And we will not let my family, or anyone killed in Palestine die in vain.
Saddam Zourob, 33, Academic
Today, I stand before you with a heavy heart. Burdened by the loss of our beloved family members in a devastating airstrike on October 24 at approximately 3:15 p.m.
In the early hours of that fateful day, we lost not just names on a list but also cherished lives that held a special place in our hearts. My beloved aunt, Salwa was the heart and soul of our family. She was a loving mother, a devoted aunt, and a constant source of warmth and care.
She never failed to bring joy to our children’s hearts, always making them feel special with her thoughtful gifts and endless love. Her three sons, Abdullah, an environmental engineer working with Rafah City Council, had a deep passion for preserving the environment and a strong commitment to his community.
Mohammed, a law school graduate, had dreams of justice and fairness. The youngest, 16-year-old Omar, was a bright and promising schoolboy with dreams of the future. Her other son, Ibrahim, a 10-year-old schoolboy, suffered injuries during the same devastating airstrike. He is now on a path of recovery, demonstrating incredible resilience.
Her daughters, Islam, an educated mathematics teacher, shared her knowledge and inspired countless young minds; Fatima, a loving housewife, created a haven of love and warmth in her home, making every family gathering a special occasion. Asma now lies in the hospital, fighting for her life with severe burns from the same devastating airstrike.
Her strength and resilience are testaments to the indomitable spirit of our family. Her dear daughter-in-law, Lamis, stood strong alongside her husband, Abdullah. Their three children, Muhammad, 10, Musa, 6, and Ibrahim, 2, brought laughter and life into their home.
Smart children Muhammad, 10, Bilal, 18 months, and Abdullah, 1, carried the light of youth and hope in their hearts. Fatima’s children, Seba, 9, Hala, 11, and Hamsa, 18 months, were the undimmed beneficiaries of her love and care. We gather here today to mourn the loss of these extraordinary lives and to remember the love, laughter, and dreams forever silenced by the horrors of war.
This tragedy is a stark reminder of the consequences of violence for innocent civilians.
Khalil Alagha, Academic & Digital Development Consultant
I don’t know where to start. I was trying to write something more sophisticated. However, I lost my words. I’m used to writing, but I couldn’t find it. I just tried to register some names.
Samar Alagha, 20, with her 4-month-old baby, Abrar Alagha. Mohammed Alagha and his wife and their three children, Mira, 12, Riyan, 8, and 9-month-old Adam.
Lubna Alagha and her four children, and it goes on and on and on, and these names are only in the last seven days. I lost more than 44 members of my extended family.
When I heard about the first family, I was devastated. Then I said that’s probably some sort of mistake because they were in the south of Gaza, in Khan Younis, where they had been told it was safe. All the displaced people from the north, from Gaza City, are trying to take refuge in that place.
The first family is gone, the second is gone, and the third is gone.
I stopped counting. I stopped watching the news. I used to be a journalist. But I could not bear any news about more victims. It wasn’t only family.
It was our friends, classmates, and neighbours. Every hour, I hear names that I know. My memories started fading away. I don’t want to remember the names. Because it hurts. It hurts a lot.
When I watched friends, doctors, and neighbours on screen say who they had lost, it really, really hurt. I’m sitting in front of the screen, helpless, with everyone in this room. And these are only a few. The majority couldn’t come.
Because they are in great pain, they can’t talk in front of the camera. I’m an academic. I’m a media person, but I can barely stand in front of these cameras. I have reported on past wars in Gaza. I used to live in Gaza. I know every single place in Gaza, but I can’t recognise anything in Gaza today.
We visited Gaza two months ago for the first time in 10 years. My daughters were so happy to see Gaza and to meet their cousins, aunts, uncles, and extended family.
A few days ago, one of my youngest daughters asked me, “Are we going to see my aunties and cousins again? Are they going to be there next summer if we go?” I really couldn’t answer that question. I’m an academic and a media person. However, I couldn’t answer an 11-year-old’s question. I’m wondering if anyone here in this room can help me answer her question. I would really appreciate it.
Omar Mofeed, 33, Accountant
My cousin’s son, Omar, 5 years old, was killed in Gaza a week ago. So today, as my friend Khalil Alagha and my friend Shamlakh’s family, we are wordless. We cannot speak now. We have lost lots of family members. We stopped counting.
Fatima al Makhalalti, 75, the first female judge in Gaza, was a practising lawyer and judge for decades. She was a retired judge. Her husband, Fehmi Al Najar, 78, was also a judge. And their sons: Muhammad Fehmi Al Najar and Firas Al Najar.
This lovely family was sleeping in their house in Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood in the southern part of Gaza City.
In seconds, Israel bombed their house using American, British, and European weapons. They have used these Western European weapons to kill my people. When UK universities test weapons’
effectiveness, the next stage is to use these weapons on the people of Gaza, on my people, on 75-year-old Fatema, on her husband, Fehmi, on their son, Muhammad Fehmi Al Najar, and little Omar. They are the test victims of Western weapons before they are sold to dictators all over the world.
So, this was about the first family that was wiped out. The grandfather, grandmother, two sons, and ten of their grandchildren.
Hiba Salim Ammar, who’s my cousin, was killed with her husband and three kids, Huda, Kinda, and Jamil, all under 5, as well as her in-laws. Twenty-five people were in that house. This is about the people. We don’t know who we will lose next.
I’ll tell you a little bit about the survivors in Gaza. My maternal grandmother, who is 90, has moved to southern Gaza. Now, 30 family members, including many children, are living in a small apartment, some sleep in the room, some in the grass, some in the corridor, and some in the beds.
They share only one toilet, because my grandmother is old and she’s scared, she needs to go to the toilet every five minutes. They told me that no one’s allowed to have a shower, and they can only flush the toilet once a day because there’s no water, food, electricity, or gas.
They said we don’t have meat, fish, or bread. They said, we try to light a fire outside the apartment to cook, but it’s very risky because a small fire in Gaza, will get you bombed by the Israelis.
My brother, Dr Ahmed Makhalati, is the only plastic surgeon in Gaza. He was living in London with his daughters and son. My brother was working at St. Thomas Hospital. He travelled to Gaza six months ago to open the first plastic and reconstruction surgery department. He and his fellow friends at St.
Thomas Hospital were planning to start a plastic surgery department, that offers online surgeries in Gaza. He was working with universities in Gaza.
He said, “I have seen in Palestine, in Gaza, lots of doctors who will be the best doctors in the future.” My brother called me yesterday because we lost the connection with him. He’s in Gaza City, in the biggest hospital, Al Shifa Hospital, which was bombed today. He said, “We now don’t clean the medical equipment”.
So, they operate without cleaning the medical equipment because the staff have either been killed, or their family members have been killed, or they went to southern Gaza to look after their family.
He said they used to have 12 doctors in the department, but now have only four.
The capacity of the hospital is 800 beds. They have 3,000 patients. He said that when they receive people who need ICU rooms, they choose the ones most likely to survive.
The rest they put in normal beds without oxygen or hard equipment, and most of the people who are not admitted to the ICU will likely die. The world is looking at our massacres. The doctors there do not have electricity in the hospitals, and no medical equipment, so the number of people killed is because of Israeli bombs, siege, and lack of equipment and medical supplies.
We need to act right now. It’s unacceptable to see hundreds of thousands of people on the western country’s streets. And we see politicians all over the world supporting Israel. Why has no one visited Gaza? Why? Are they human or not?
No one’s speaking about Gaza. The British Foreign Secretary is saying, they are sending medical aid to Gaza. Is this the maximum that the British government can do? Is that all? How many more children do we need to save? I think the number of children killed so far is 3,850 children.
We need to stop this war. This war is not a Hamas-Israel war, this is a war on the Palestinians in Gaza. The media, which is misleading the people in the UK, is complicit in this occupation.
It’s unacceptable to see this number of children dying. If we come tomorrow, we will find hundreds of more children have died. And I don’t know when we will act. Please, please, everyone, we must act. Everyone takes action to protect our children.
Zihab Sharif, Engineer
We always talk, and think about Gaza, about the place always bombarded. I know that Gaza is a. not a massive piece of land, it’s 10 by 40 kilometres, but it’s about the memories, the family, it’s the most generous people you will encounter.
If you walk on any street in Gaza, you will be invited to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You will also find very strong and resilient people, with strong faith. And people still to this minute believe in humanity, at least what remains of humanity.
I was looking at these kids’ pictures, looking at their smiles, and wondering what they had been thinking about when those pictures were taken. Maisa could have been my daughter. Ibrahim could have been my son. Look at the potential.
Warid, my cousin, was an iOS, Apple, Apple developer who managed to finish a degree in Gaza. He even developed a special application to teach Arabic to kids. We have over 2.2 million people and six universities, the highest percentage of education in the world. What a waste of potential. We’re here not only to honour them but because our blood is mixed. All these families are connected to Palestine, through Gaza.
We’re also here to talk about our families, who are now under bombardment. They don’t have access to water, bread, fuel, or the key supplies we take for granted. That brilliant engineer was killed earlier this week in a queue to buy bread. His brother is injured, and his elderly parents are devastated.
My elderly aunts don’t have access to water, food, or medication. My uncle lost his house among the other 20 or 30,000 houses lost. He worked very hard, building his house brick-by-brick as a civil servant, and he believed in peace.
What’s happening now will not provide long-term peace in the Middle East. The only thing that will bring peace is justice for the Palestinians.
Mysara Ibrahim, 33, International Higher Education Consultant
We have families in Gaza who are currently residing under that relentless bombardment, day and night, every minute and every second. Approximately two weeks ago, my wife and I woke up exhausted after staying up most of the night checking the sad news coming from Gaza.
The worry about our families’ safety in Gaza had taken a toll on our mental and physical wellbeing. We sleep less. We eat less. The laughter and joy in our lives had disappeared, replaced by an overwhelming ocean of grief, sadness, and anxiety.
I immediately reached for my phone to check if anything had happened during my few hours of sleep. My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I saw many notifications. I told myself that something was odd. Something bad might have happened. Please, God, not our families.
I reluctantly opened the first message to find it was from a friend who was feeling sorry for me, and my wife and their entire family were praying for us. I opened the second, third, fourth, and the rest; they were all from people sending us thoughts and condolences.
My wife and I knew that members of our beloved family had been murdered. With a fast-beating heart, we went to social media to check which member of our family was murdered. As this is the only way we know.
We found it flooding with horror images of innocent children, men, and women killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a neighbourhood in southern Gaza.
The place Israel had said was safe and instructed civilians to evacuate to. They bombed the buildings on the heads of its residents while they were peacefully sleeping in their homes, killing tens of civilians, including my brother-in-law, Hamid, a kind-hearted family man and a promising businessman. And his three beautiful children, Kamal, 10, Omar, 4, and one-and-a-half-year-old Reem, whom we haven’t met.
We managed to recognise them, with their beautiful angelic faces stained with blood, dust, and sand. Words cannot describe the pain and sorrow that my wife and I felt as we came across this devastating news. Seeing the pictures on social media, Hamid and his children departed this world, leaving behind a wound that will never heal, memories that will never fade, and laughter that will forever echo in our hearts and minds.
Our people are not just numbers. Each one has a name, a face, a family they cherish, and a life full of dreams and hopes of life in peace. All gone. Nothing remains but this utter silence and the smell of death and bombs that fill Gaza’s air from the south to the north.
Nothing remains but emptiness. No daddy, no Kamal, no Omar, and no Reem. They are all gone. As for the mummy, she’s alone, severely injured. Keep her in your prayers.
The genocide is still going on as we speak. We wake up every day to more devastating news. More bombing of civilian homes before the very eyes of this cruel world. More murdered children, more grieving families crying over the bodies of their loved ones, and more pain and suffering.
That’s why it’s important that we, the people, force our government and other Muslim governments to step in and end this carnage. It is time to protect civilians and demand an immediate ceasefire.
It is time that Muslim countries lock into the Israeli occupation of Palestine without bias without favouring Israel over the rights of our beloved people, and without ignoring Israel’s decades of violations of international and humanitarian laws.
If not now, then when? When?
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