The horrors of the war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas illustrate the costs that citizens on both sides must pay. Hamas fired thousands of rockets in its surprise attacks and counterattacks on October 7. Israel carried out brutal airstrikes on Gaza and is now preparing for an all-out ground assault.
Jamal Al-Durrah, the symbol of the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising), against the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2000, mourns the loss of four members of his family who were killed in the Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Jamal Al-Durrah lost his two brothers, a wife and the brothers’ daughter, in the Israeli counterattack that killed more than 2,500 people in Gaza.
Caught in crossfire
Twenty-three years ago, Jamal Al-Durrah lost his eleven-year-old son, Mohammed al-Durrah, in a crossfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters during the second Intifada.
On September 30, 2000, two days after the second Intifada began, Jamal and Mohammad were locked in a gun battle between the two factions. Jamal crouched behind a concrete cylinder with his son. A journalist working for France 2 captured the horrific incident on tape, during which Mohammed hid behind his father.
Jamal Al-Durrah and his son Mohammad were caught in the crossfire
Jamal waved at one of the factions and begged for it to stop, while his petrified son hid behind his father. A few seconds later, shots were fired and Mohammad collapsed on his father’s lap and later died. The loss Jamal suffered in the early days of the second Intifada symbolized the brutal nature of the conflict between the two sides. The second Palestinian uprising ended in 2005, killing more than 1,000 Israelis and more than 3,000 Palestinians.
Airstrikes on Gaza
After 23 years since Mohammed’s murder, Jamal is now mourning the loss of his family members. “The iconic murder of the Palestinian child Mohammed al-Durrah by Israel, his blood still flows in the Gaza Strip,” said Jamal Al-Durrah.
Jamal crouched next to the bodies of the victims at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Mosque in Gaza and said: “Reserve a place for me among you (in paradise).” “Israel targeted the houses of my brothers and killed my two brothers, my brother’s wife and his only daughter. Dozens of my neighbors have also been killed, especially children,” he added.
“The occupation deliberately kills children. Every day they kill a child. The scene of Mohammed’s murder is still repeating itself after 23 years. Mohammed’s blood is still flowing.” “Israel does not target military targets. They are killing civilians with Western weapons,” Jamal said.
Israel’s objectives
Israel is planning a full-scale ground attack on Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas. Hamas’s three-pronged terror attack is receiving a comprehensive response. Israel asked civilians in northern Gaza to flee south before launching an offensive and later claimed that Hamas was using Gaza residents as human shields against Israeli airstrikes.
Israel launched airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight, according to an Israeli military statement. There are growing fears of an escalation between the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, and Israel.
US President Joe Biden will visit Israel tomorrow as the war between Israel and Hamas escalates and there are fears of a serious humanitarian crisis.
