– ‘My husband, my children, my brother, his children, my sister, her children, everyone died. Only one child survived,’ the only surviving mother tells Anadolu
GAZA CITY, Palestine / ANKARA
In one of the most harrowing scenes of the ongoing onslaught in the Gaza Strip, videos filmed by Palestinian journalists and activists show the dismembered body of a young girl and her injured brother on the rooftop of a neighboring house, victims of a powerful Israeli airstrike on central Gaza’s Al-Yarmouk neighborhood.
The video, widely circulated on social media, captures the aftermath of a high-intensity explosion caused by Israeli bombs.
It shows injured children and body parts scattered on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the target site, sowing a grim picture of a genocide underway since Oct. 7, 2023.
Scene of devastation
Among the most distressing images was what remained of a little girl, hurled onto the neighboring rooftop by the blast. Only the lower half of her body was visible, embedded in the bloodstained concrete.
She wore a pink dress, now covered in dust and ash, while strands of her hair blew in the air, stirred by the force of the explosion.
A few meters away, her brother lay injured, bleeding from the head and calling weakly for help. Unbeknownst to his mother, who was frantically searching for him beneath the rubble after losing her husband and other children, he was still alive, stranded on a nearby rooftop.
This boy, her only surviving child, became her final hope after nearly her entire family—siblings, nephews, and nieces—was wiped out in the bombing.
Family blown apart
Nuseiba Shahto, the boy’s mother, told Anadolu in a shaken voice that the Israeli strike obliterated their home and killed nearly everyone inside.
“My husband, my children, my brother, his children, my sister, her children, everyone died. Only one child survived. He was thrown onto the neighbor’s roof by the blast. Thank God we found him alive, but his condition is serious,” she said.
“The explosion was so powerful. Ten children from the family were in the house. The entire house is gone. Everyone was screaming. Only my son and I survived,” she added.
Eyewitnesses confirmed the scale of destruction, noting that the victims’ bodies were hurled tens of meters by what they believe were highly explosive Israeli bombs. Some children were thrown to the upper floors of the surrounding buildings.
A study conducted by Harvard University on Oct. 23, 2024, confirmed that the Israeli military had used US-manufactured Mark 84 bombs known for their devastating impact.
Child’s testimony
Anadolu visited the injured boy, Ali Faraj, at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Gaza.
In a faint voice and with dazed eyes, Ali recalled: “The walls collapsed, and I fell. I don’t know what happened. I was with my dad… then there was a huge explosion.”
He remembers little of the incident, but the image of his father, who was killed in the bombing, remains with him.
“I woke up in the hospital. My head and stomach hurt,” he whispered.
Ali was undergoing surgery for a severe abdominal injury.
His mother, speaking outside the operating room, made a tearful appeal to the world: “Please, save what is left of our people. We are human beings. We are tired of destruction and death.”
Toll on children
On April 18, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that women and children were the primary victims of the war since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18. Between then and mid-April, Israeli forces killed 595 children and 308 women.
The Gaza Health Ministry announced on March 24 that at least 15,613 children had been killed during Israel’s 19-month genocidal war, accounting for 31% of total fatalities.
Over 33,900 children had been injured, which amounts to nearly 30% of all wounded people in Gaza.
The Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, and has since killed nearly 2,000 people, injured over 5,000 more, and shattered a Jan. 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
Nearly 51,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-28/gaza-ali-faraj-faraj-survives-deadly-missile-blast/105221962
Mon 28 AprMonday 28 April
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Moments after a missile blasted apart a Gaza City home, and as the dust settled, a sign of life appeared amongst the rubble.
Cutting through the ash-grey scene was a flash of blood red.
A little hand reached into the air, waving for help. And then the sound of a small child wailing in distress could be heard.
Seven-year-old Ali Faraj Faraj was sitting helplessly on top of a neighbouring building, thrown from the building where his family were sheltering due to the intensity of the blast.Doctors in Gaza are running out of medicine amid blockade
Photo shows A sick boy looks up at the camera from his hospital bed
The Israeli government says it is preventing supplies from entering Gaza to pressure Hamas, but doctors argue it is women and children who are being impacted the most.
His father’s lifeless body was just few feet away. The dismembered remains of his five-year-old sister, wearing a pink dress, lay nearby.
Ali’s four other sisters were also killed.
But he miraculously survived the Israeli strike on Thursday, along with his mother.
The video of this moment he was found, recorded by Palestinian journalist Mahmoud Shalha, quickly spread around the world on social media.
“I was sitting with my father, my sisters were playing, suddenly our house was bombed,” he told the ABC from his hospital bed.
“I was sitting in my father’s arms, then I found myself flying to the neighbour’s roof.”
Ali’s bravery, beyond his years, has been on display in the days since the blast. He has had to have surgery to remove metal shrapnel from his small body and to treat his broken leg.
His mother is distraught. She had been cooking for the family when the missile hit the home they had been sheltering in on Al-Yarmouk Street. They moved there after fleeing nearby Shejaya.
“When I went out to see what happened I found there was no walls, no basement, and I started calling them by names — no-one answered me.” Nuha Mahmoud Shattu said.
Then she heard her son calling for her, as rescue crews tried to reach him.
As Nuha was taken to an ambulance, suffering burns from the heat of the explosion, the loss of her family dawned on her.
Ali is her only surviving child. Her daughters Zeina, Leen, Razan, Suaad and Jouri, aged between 2 and 14, were all killed in the attack.
Her brother and sister, their children and her parents also perished.
“I couldn’t say goodbye,”
she said.
“The rocket came and cut them all into pieces.
“I thank our God I still have Ali. The smell of his father, he will be with me by my side, thank you God.”
Ali’s uncle Hamza Ali Faraj said between 15 and 20 people were killed in the Israeli strike.IDF conscription causing tension in Israel
Photo shows A man with payos curls, a black hat, and beard
Fighting wars on multiple fronts has left Israel’s military ranks severely depleted. However, moves to force members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community to serve are dividing the nation.
The IDF has been issuing evacuation warnings for large swathes of the Gaza strip, ahead of air strikes.
Hamza said there was no warning of this attack. The IDF’s Arabic spokesman’s X account, where maps and notices are posted, also does not show any advance notice.
“I say to the world this is not justice, it’s a crime against humanity,” Hamza said.
“You hit a house where there are no wanted individuals in it, it’s only children, women and civilians — people who have no connection to what they claim.
“[Israel] targeting a house in an aggressive, crazy way — it’s a thing humanity doesn’t expect or imagine.”
The ABC asked the IDF a series of questions about the strike, including whether notice was given, what type of munitions were used considering the significant damage to the building, and why it was targeted.
The IDF said it was seeking further details about the strike from commanders in Gaza.
“Hamas has a documented practice of operating from, nearby, underneath and within densely populated area,” it said in a statement.
“The IDF’s strikes on military targets are subject to relevant provisions of international law, including the taking of feasible precautions and after an assessment that the expected incidental damage to civilians and civilian property is not excessive in relation to the expected military advantage from the attack.”