Only My Brother and I Survived the Bombing of Our Home

On Monday, 11 December 2023, I was asleep in our crowded house in Maghazi refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip. We woke up for Fajr prayer, and suddenly, our house was subjected to intense shelling. I lost consciousness, and hours later I woke up to find myself in the hospital, with serious injuries all over my body.

My name is Hala Adel Al-Najmi, I am 13 years old, I am from Maghazi refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip. I lived a beautiful life before the start of the war. Since the first day of the war, our house has been turned into a refuge for many displaced people who’ve fled from the Israeli shelling that has targeted all areas of the Gaza Strip. We lived together with the displaced people as one family, sharing with them everything we had. I hoped that the war would end without us being harmed, but the war has been ongoing for several months, and I cannot describe the pain caused to me by the Israeli occupation which will haunt me for the rest of my life.

While my family was praying, the occupation forces bombed our house. The force of the explosion threw me and my brother Kareem, 20 years old, into the street behind our house. My brother Kareem and I were the only ones to survive the bombing – everyone else was martyred.

I woke up after several hours to find myself in the hospital, and immediately asked about my family. I was told that they were receiving treatment at the hospital in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, while my brother Kareem and I were receiving treatment at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. I was informed that my brother Kareem’s injuries were all over his body, and that he had lost bone and flesh from his left foot. I was told that he was receiving treatment in a ward adjacent to the one where I was receiving treatment.

I requested to see my dear brother Kareem to check on him, but when I saw him, I was greatly shocked. I couldn’t recognize him due to the severity of his injuries. His injuries were extensive, resulting in burns and significant disfigurement all over his body. The bombing caused burns on his face. I was hesitant to hold his hand and greet him, but I was relieved that he was still alive.

I stayed in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for three months receiving treatment. For a month and a half, I was in a wheelchair and unable to walk. I suffered deep wounds all over my body, and the doctors performed skin grafting on my hands. The bombing caused nerve damage in my left hand, and I underwent surgery every three days. I underwent about 16 surgeries at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

After completing my treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, and after undergoing many surgeries, I was transferred to a hospital in Khan Younis city for neurological physical therapy for my legs. I couldn’t walk for over three weeks.

My brother Khalid is married and lives in an apartment outside our house. He survived the bombing and death. I went to his house after the invasion of Khan Younis city, when I was suffering from injuries all over my body. I cried a lot because of my longing for my family, but I didn’t know about their martyrdom yet.

After the bombing intensified in Deir al-Balah, we decided to evacuate to Rafah city. We rode a truck in the middle of the night amidst danger and heavy bombing, and we arrived in Rafah city. We lived in tents in the Shabura area in Rafah for 13 days. During this time, I had a fever and my wounds caused me a lot of pain. I suffered from severe infections in my body, and I couldn’t find any treatment or pain relief.

After 13 days of living in tents, and due to my poor health condition, the people of Rafah hosted us in a small shop where dozens of families were staying. We stayed there for two weeks, and after the end of the occupation invasion in the central camps, we went to my uncle’s house in Maghazi camp.

My uncle’s house is adjacent to our house. It is basically uninhabitable from the damage due to the bombing of our house. We all slept in one room there. I lived there for 12 days. After that, I moved with my brother to shelters. We faced difficulty in getting food, drink, cleaning materials, clothes, and everything else.

I constantly asked about my father, mother, and siblings, and my relatives kept telling me my family was fine receiving treatment in Rafah city. But I started feeling like they weren’t telling me the truth, and my worry and fear for them increased every day. My relatives’ looks towards me were strange; I felt like they were hiding something from me, but they insisted my family was fine and receiving treatment.

I was playing on my brother’s wife’s phone, and I opened the pictures on the phone. I found a picture with the names of my father and mother and the date of their martyrdom, 11 December 2023. I was greatly shocked and I couldn’t believe what I saw. I cried a lot, but I still didn’t know anything about my siblings.

I thought the bombing led to the martyrdom of my father and mother, but after pleading with my brother’s wife, she finally told me that everyone in the house was martyred, and only my brother Kareem and I survived. My father, Adel Al-Najmi, 52 years old, and my mother, Mona, 46 years old, were martyred, along with my brother Eyad, 29 years old, and his infant daughter, Hoor, 6 months old.

My brother Jamal, 27 years old, my brother Mohammed, 21 years old, my sister Ala’a, 26 years old, and her son, the child Joud Maqdad, seven years old. My sister’s young husband, Amjad Maher Maqdad, 28 years old, was also martyred. Everyone in our house was martyred, and dozens of our neighbours were injured. My neighbourhood was completely destroyed.

We fled after the occupation forces invaded Maghazi camp at the beginning of January 2024 to Deir al-Balah city, then we fled to Nuseirat camp. Now, we are living in a school shelter for displaced people run by UNRWA in Nuseirat camp. I have never felt safe for a single moment inside the school.

The occupation forces bombed the school several times, and dozens of displaced people were martyred and injured in the school bombings. My brother’s wife was going to get some food when she was hit by shrapnel from the occupation’s rockets bombing the school yard. Doctors described her injury as moderate.

Our life in the shelter is difficult. Every day, I have to go up and down the stairs many times which is very difficult with my injuries. I need to travel with my brother Kareem to receive treatment, which has caused me severe knee pain. We have to get water and food ourselves because everyone living with us in the school is facing similarly difficult living conditions to what we’ve been through.

All the places inside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where I stayed were filled with beds for the injured. The number of injuries coming to the hospital daily was very high, far exceeding the hospital’s capacity. The occupation’s crimes have not stopped for a moment since the beginning of the war.

I dream that the war will end soon, and that I can live with my brother again. I hope my brother can walk and move his hand again. We don’t feel any aspect of the life we used to live, but we must continue after losing everything. I hope to travel with my brother to complete our treatment. My brother Kareem currently cannot walk. My dream is for him to stand on his feet and continue his life better than before.

I still need treatment. The stitches in my body hurt me, and my body temperature often rises to 40°C [104°F]. I can’t find painkillers or treatment for my injury. We don’t have food or water. I miss my school. I am an excellent student, but I lost my academic certificates in the bombing of our house. I lost everything.

I miss my classmates. I miss studying. I miss my life before the war. I miss coming back from school and finding my mother preparing food and eating together. But my mother was martyred. The occupation killed her and left me to continue my life without her. The war must end immediately. The occupation must be held accountable for all the crimes it has committed against us in Gaza during the genocidal war it has been waging on the Gaza Strip for almost eight consecutive months.