Testimony of Shukri al-Kolak (51), a widower and father of five from Gaza City whose wife, three children and 18 other relatives were killed when the Israeli military fired missiles at four buildings, killing 46 people, on 16 May 2021
I live with my two surviving children, Ousamah and Zeinab, after I lost my wife Amal (42), our children Taher (23), Ahmad (15) and Hanaa (14), my father Amin (89), my mother Sa’diyah (84), my sister Bahaa (48), my brother Fawaz (62), three of his children, Riham (32), ‘Abd al-Hamid (22), Sameh (28), his daughter-in-law Ayat (19), his grandson Qusai (5 months) and nine other relatives. They were all killed when Israel bombed the building we lived in on al-Wehdah Street in the a-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City. I was trapped under the rubble for about 12 hours until they managed to get me out and take me to hospital.
I was in Hamad Hospital for 22 days. When I was discharged, I moved into an apartment we rented in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City.
Since that terrible day, I’ve been living with the constant pain and loss of staying alive while they were killed. My life is no longer worth living. It’s bleak. I see everything in black. I had a family and used to love life, but now I’m a shadow of my former self. Ever since my wife and children were killed, I’ve felt hollow.
I lost my whole life, the family I built, all my memories. I lived with them and for them, and they were my whole life. Everything revolved around them. My wife and I lived for our children, raising them in the hope of seeing them grow up and succeed in life. We hoped to rejoice with them in their successes and feel happiness and contentment. We were a happy family.
Since that day, I haven’t been able to pass by the ruins of our building or even enter the street where I grew up and spent my whole life. I avoid it. I can’t bear to see the place where I was born in ruins, destroyed. I don’t want to see where my wife, children and relatives were killed.
The Israeli occupation destroyed and wiped out our lives, and my memories of 51 years spent in that place. That street, my home, which was a source of grace and of a good life, became cursed in a single moment. They killed innocent civilians and left others homeless, without any justification.
Everyone is equally entitled to human rights. If you defend human rights around the world, it’s your duty to defend the victims in the Gaza Strip. The horrific acts the Israeli occupation is carrying out here must not be ignored. We live in stress and anxiety, constantly afraid that a war will break out again, that houses will be bombed and civilians killed. No one is safe here, not even inside their own homes. The world must stand by us so we can live safely without more victims.
* The testimony was given to B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah on 21 March 2022..
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