Gaza Herald – In a land worn down by thirst and burdened by suffering amid the Israeli genocide on the Gaza Strip, water in eastern Gaza City is no longer just a source of life; it has become a daily frontline between survival and death.
There, in besieged agricultural areas, brothers Mahmoud and Eid Abu Warda set out every morning to do their work: delivering water to displaced families using trucks affiliated with UNICEF, unaware that their final journey would be written in blood.
The two brothers, from a modest family in northern Gaza, had taken on the responsibility of transporting water from the Mansoura entrance in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood to shelters for displaced people, amid collapsed infrastructure and disrupted supply networks.
As Israeli bombardment intensified, their work became increasingly dangerous. Yet for them, it was a duty that could not be delayed; water was not a luxury but a matter of life.
Painful details
On the morning of Friday, April 17, they set out as usual, driving a water tanker along rough and dangerous roads, It was not the first time they had risked entering exposed areas, but the escalation had made every movement perilous.
As they approached their destination, Israeli fire struck Mahmoud, throwing him to the ground. Their brother Mohammed rushed to save him but was hit by an explosive bullet in his arm. A third brother, Eid, then ran to help, only to be shot and killed, turning the water truck into a silent witness to another tragedy.
Mohammed Abu Warda recounted the moment, saying, “I looked east and saw an Israeli tank. I started to withdraw and shouted to Eid to come back, but he rushed to help Mahmoud and was shot, falling beside him.”
He added: “A passerby carried me to the hospital, and later my two brothers were brought in as martyrs,” noting they had been targeted multiple times despite their well-known humanitarian work.
“We work with UNICEF,” he said. “We go to the station three times a day to fill and distribute water. Just a week earlier, our tanks were shot at.”
Deliberate targeting
Mohammed, who is still recovering with a metal fixation in his shoulder, believes the attack was deliberate, aimed at preventing water from reaching displaced people and worsening their suffering amid severe shortages.
He continued: “People called my family, who came to the hospital and found Mahmoud in the morgue and Eid in the operating room as doctors tried to save him. I was on a ventilator, something my parents never imagined.”
He added that Mahmoud was especially close to their parents, always visiting them despite long work hours. “Losing Mahmoud and Eid was a devastating shock,” he said.
Mohammed stressed that his family never expected them to be targeted, given their humanitarian role under an international organization. “But none of that mattered,” he concluded.
