Gaza Herald – Palestinian father Naim Abu Al-Shaar, 60, never imagined that his short journey to buy bread before dawn would lead to the most devastating moment of his life.
He left the shelter where his displaced family was staying in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, hoping to return with bread for breakfast. Instead, he came back to find the home reduced to rubble after an Israeli airstrike killed his entire family.
His Home Vanished Beneath the Rubble
In the early hours of the morning, Abu Al-Shaar walked alone through the bitter cold toward a local bakery, where he waited for hours to secure a few loaves of bread for his wife and children.
He was thinking about a simple breakfast that would gather his family around one table in a city overwhelmed by war, hunger, and fear.
But before he could return, the Israeli strike reached the home first.
As he approached the neighborhood, he saw clouds of dust and debris rising from the place he knew so well.
His pace quickened. The bread slipped from his hands as he struggled to understand what he was seeing. The homo that had sheltered his family through months of genocide had completely disappeared beneath the wreckage.
A Cry Among the Ruins
Amid the smoke and chaos, Abu Al-Shaar searched desperately for any sign of his loved ones.
Then, between the shattered concrete, he spotted the body of his daughter.
His voice broke as he cried out in agony:
“Amal, my daughter: Amal, pull her out, where are my children? They were all inside the home.”
Neighbors and residents rushed to the scene, trying to remove the rubble with bare hands and primitive tools in search of survivors.
Silence hung heavily over the destroyed area, interrupted only by screams, prayers, and sobbing.
During the search, rescuers recovered the body of an elderly woman. One of the men searching through the rubble said quietly:
“This is Abu Al-Shaar’s mother.”
Witnesses said the strike also hit several neighboring homes, killing at least 15 Palestinians and injuring dozens more.
At the Hospital, the Full Horror Became Clear
Abu Al-Shaar rushed to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital hoping some members of his family had survived.
Inside the hospital, however, the tragedy became unbearable.
He learned that everyone inside the house had been killed, children, women, and elderly relatives, alongside victims from neighboring families.
Fifteen Palestinians were killed in the attack, their bodies taken to the morgue instead of gathering around breakfast tables.
In the hospital courtyard, a young man carrying the body of a small child shouted through tears:
“God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.”
Nearby, Abu Al-Shaar sat beside the bodies of his family members, embracing them one final time as he stared silently at their shrouded faces.
Then, in a shattered voice, he said:
“I left at four in the morning to bring bread. I came back and found everyone in the home, women, children, and the elderly, had become martyrs.”
