Santiago native mourns 22 family members killed in Gaza

Santiago native mourns 22 family members killed in Gaza

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Santiago – A native of Santiago mourned 22 family members who were killed in the 11-day battle between Israel and Hamas.

Husam El-Qoulaq said: “I really can’t describe the feeling of losing 22 members of our extended family.”

According to the Associated Press, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire on Thursday, halting an 11-day fierce war that caused extensive damage in the Gaza Strip, paralyzed most of Israel, and killed more than 200 people. .

Just like the previous war between the three enemies, the latest round of battle was ultimately fruitless. Israel claims to have dealt a heavy blow to Hamas, but it can no longer stop the uninterrupted rocket barrage of the Islamic militant group. Almost immediately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of anger from his hard-line right-wing base, demanding that he cease operations prematurely.

The Islamic militant group Hamas vowed to destroy Israel and declared victory. But it now faces a daunting challenge, which is to rebuild in a region already suffering from poverty, widespread unemployment and the coronavirus.

The people killed in El-Qoulaq’s family have gone through several generations from his grandfather’s cousin (a 90-year-old named Amin) to a 6-month-old man named Qusai. He said that there are many ages in between.

“Abdu is only 22 years old,” he said. “Taher was 23 years old and just graduated from engineering.”

El-Qoulaq’s father was born on the same street where the explosion occurred and immigrated to San Diego in the 1980s. He said that in the same area, besides the extended family, there are many other people, including the doctor and the head of internal medicine who are leading the coronavirus response in Gaza.

Since the beginning of the fighting, Gaza’s infrastructure has been weakened by the 14-year blockade, but it has rapidly deteriorated.

In the territory, medical supplies, water and electricity are insufficient. After Hamas seized electricity from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on it. Since then, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ruled the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has limited influence in Gaza.

The World Health Organization said the Israeli attack also damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics and destroyed a medical institution. Nearly half of all essential medicines have been used up.

The advocacy organization Save the Children claimed that the Israeli bomb attack had destroyed 50 schools in Hong Kong and destroyed at least 6 schools. After the repairs were completed, nearly 42,000 children’s education was interrupted.

Although Israel and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire on Thursday, El Gulag said the damage was immeasurable.

He said: “Of course, the ceasefire is welcome, but the ceasefire will not bring back my family.” “It will not be able to restore the civilian infrastructure destroyed in the past 10 days.”





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