Latest news with #MahmoudAbdulRahmanAhmed
Mint
a day ago
- Mint
Gaza boy killed in Israeli airstrike while fetching water, father says he ‘just wanted a sip'
A grieving father in Gaza has spoken out after his young son was killed in an Israeli airstrike while trying to fetch water amid severe shortages in the war-torn region. Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Ahmed said his son Abdullah had taken a few jerrycans on Sunday morning and headed to a water distribution point at the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza- something he did regularly. 'That area was full of displaced families, people broken by the war and the siege. Abdullah was among the children waiting with empty stomachs and parched lips,' he told a local journalist working with the BBC. 'Just as the children and other thirsty residents gathered, warplanes bombed the area without warning.' A graphic video verified by the BBC showed the chaotic aftermath of the strike in the New Camp area of Nuseirat. Footage captured destroyed buildings, women screaming for help, and yellow jerrycans scattered across the rubble. Several bodies, including children, were seen lying motionless. According to Al-Awda Hospital, the attack killed 10 people, including six children, and injured at least 16 others. Among the young victims were Badr al-Din Qaraman, Siraj Khaled Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ashraf Abu Urayban, Karam Ashraf al-Ghussein, Lana Ashraf al-Ghussein, and Abdullah. The Israeli military acknowledged it had targeted a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad but said a technical error caused the munition to miss its intended target by several metres. It expressed regret over civilian casualties and said the incident was under review. But Abdullah's father believes the strike was part of a larger message. 'Israel wants to show that it won't even allow people to drink the water they desperately seek,' he said, adding that his son's dreams would now remain unfulfilled. The UN has warned that Gaza is facing a 'human-made drought' due to fuel shortages, damaged infrastructure, and ongoing conflict. Many people are receiving less than 15 litres of water per day — far below emergency standards. 'You see children queuing up daily with yellow jerrycans, waiting for trucks that bring just 5 or 10 litres of water,' said Sam Rose, acting Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). 'This death is emblematic of a larger tragedy. But sadly, it's one of many,' he added. Just days earlier, 10 children and three women were killed while waiting for food supplements at a clinic in nearby Deir al-Balah. UNICEF chief Catherine Russell called the incidents 'horrific' and urged Israel to urgently review its rules of engagement and uphold international humanitarian law. The UN Security Council is expected to meet later this week to discuss the situation of children in Gaza. However, Israel's UN representative claimed the blame lies with Hamas, accusing the militant group of using civilians as human shields.
Mint
2 days ago
- Mint
Gaza boy killed in Israeli airstrike while fetching water, father says he 'just wanted a sip'
A grieving father in Gaza has spoken out after his young son was killed in an Israeli airstrike while trying to fetch water amid severe shortages in the war-torn region. Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Ahmed said his son Abdullah had taken a few jerrycans on Sunday morning and headed to a water distribution point at the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza- something he did regularly. 'That area was full of displaced families, people broken by the war and the siege. Abdullah was among the children waiting with empty stomachs and parched lips,' he told a local journalist working with the BBC. 'Just as the children and other thirsty residents gathered, warplanes bombed the area without warning.' A graphic video verified by the BBC showed the chaotic aftermath of the strike in the New Camp area of Nuseirat. Footage captured destroyed buildings, women screaming for help, and yellow jerrycans scattered across the rubble. Several bodies, including children, were seen lying motionless. According to Al-Awda Hospital, the attack killed 10 people, including six children, and injured at least 16 others. Among the young victims were Badr al-Din Qaraman, Siraj Khaled Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ashraf Abu Urayban, Karam Ashraf al-Ghussein, Lana Ashraf al-Ghussein, and Abdullah. The Israeli military acknowledged it had targeted a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad but said a technical error caused the munition to miss its intended target by several metres. It expressed regret over civilian casualties and said the incident was under review. But Abdullah's father believes the strike was part of a larger message. 'Israel wants to show that it won't even allow people to drink the water they desperately seek,' he said, adding that his son's dreams would now remain unfulfilled. The UN has warned that Gaza is facing a 'human-made drought' due to fuel shortages, damaged infrastructure, and ongoing conflict. Many people are receiving less than 15 litres of water per day — far below emergency standards. 'You see children queuing up daily with yellow jerrycans, waiting for trucks that bring just 5 or 10 litres of water,' said Sam Rose, acting Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). 'This death is emblematic of a larger tragedy. But sadly, it's one of many,' he added. Just days earlier, 10 children and three women were killed while waiting for food supplements at a clinic in nearby Deir al-Balah. UNICEF chief Catherine Russell called the incidents 'horrific' and urged Israel to urgently review its rules of engagement and uphold international humanitarian law. The UN Security Council is expected to meet later this week to discuss the situation of children in Gaza. However, Israel's UN representative claimed the blame lies with Hamas, accusing the militant group of using civilians as human shields. Back in Nuseirat, Abdullah's father had a stark message for the world: 'We are civilians. We have no weapons, no power. All we want is for this war and this massacre to stop.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Gaza father's outrage after Israeli strike kills son 'searching for a sip'
Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Ahmed says his son, Abdullah, was "searching for a sip of water" when he took the family's jerrycans on Sunday morning and headed as usual to one of the water distribution points in the urban Nuseirat camp, in central Gaza."That area was inhabited by displaced people, others who were exhausted by the war, and those who have seen the worst due to the imposed siege and limitations, and the ongoing aggression," Mahmoud said in an interview with a local journalist working for the BBC."The children, Abdullah among them, stood in a queue with empty stomachs, empty jerrycans, and thirsty lips," he added."Minutes after the children and thirsty people of the camp gathered, the warplanes bombed those children and the water distribution point, without prior notice." Graphic video filmed by another local journalist and verified by the BBC showed the immediate aftermath of the Israeli strike on a street in the New Camp area of passes two men carrying young children before coming across a destroyed structure, beneath which dozens of yellow plastic jerrycans are scream as bystanders pull a man from the rubble, while others try to help another man covered in blood. Other adults and children are seen lying motionless hospital in Nuseirat said 10 people, including six children, were killed in the strike, and that 16 others were injured. Along with Abdullah, they named the children who died as Badr al-Din Qaraman, Siraj Khaled Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ashraf Abu Urayban, Karam Ashraf al-Ghussein and Lana Ashraf al-Ghussein. When asked about the strike, the Israeli military said it had targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad "terrorist" but that "as a result of a technical error with the munition, the munition fell dozens of meters from the target".The military said it was "aware of the claim regarding casualties in the area as a result" and "regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians", adding: "The incident is under review."However, Mahmoud claimed that Israel "intended to convey a message: it won't allow people to drink even the drinking water that they crave."He also lamented that dreams of Abdullah and the other children would never be realised."They were looking at reality with the hope of it changing, and of becoming like the other children of the world - practicing their normal role of playing, moving, traveling, eating, drinking, and living in safety," he said. The UN says water shortages in Gaza are worsening due to the lack of fuel and spare parts for desalination, pumping and sanitation facilities, as well as insecurity and inaccessibility due to Israeli military operations against Hamas and evacuation a result, many people are receiving less than the emergency standard of 15 litres per day, amounting to what the UN calls "a human-made drought crisis"."You see children queuing up, by the side of the road, with yellow jerrycans every single morning, waiting for the daily water truck to come and get their five litres [or] 10 litres, of water used for washing, cleaning, cooking, drinking, etc," Sam Rose, the acting Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), told the BBC."Every death is a tragedy. This one is particularly emblematic, given the circumstances in which it took place. But it's one of many," he Thursday, 10 children and three women were killed as they waited for nutritional supplements outside a clinic in the nearby town of Deir Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas "terrorist" nearby and, as with Sunday's incident, that it regretted harming any civilians."We focus on these incidents, but of course these weren't the only children killed in Gaza [on Sunday]," Rose said. "Every single day, since the start of the war, on average of classroom full of children have been killed."The executive director of the UN children's agency (Unicef), Catherine Russell, meanwhile called both incidents "horrific" and demanded that Israeli authorities "urgently review the rules of engagement and ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law". Later this week, the UN Security Council will convene to discuss the situation of children in Gaza, following a request by the Israel's permanent representative Danny Danon said council members would be "better served to apply pressure on Hamas for prolonging this conflict"."The children in Gaza are victims of Hamas, not Israel. Hamas is using them as human shields and the UN is silent," he said it was Israel which should be pressured to end the war."We have no power and no strength. We are victims. We are civilians just like other people in the world, and we don't own any nuclear weapons or arms or anything," he added."This war needs to stop, and so does the ongoing massacre happening in the Gaza Strip."
