GAZA CITY: Cradling his baby daughter, Saeed Masri took flight yesterday from renewed Israeli bombardment of Gaza with little faith that even a UN facility can protect his family.
Three hours after a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended, a missile hit the roof of a building opposite the apartment in Jabaliya where he was staying with relatives after his own neighbourhood was shelled.
“We were in Beit Hanun and were there during the war and the shelling, so after that I came to stay here with my cousins,” Masri said as he trudged down the street with his family in tow.
It was only a small rocket fired by a drone, intended as a warning for civilians to leave, residents said. It shattered the roof of the building and left no casualties, but an ambulance was parked around the corner in case it was followed by more attacks.
Masri heeded the message immediately, packing some food into plastic bags, gathering his wife and five children and setting off down the street to find safety.
His eyes darted as he spoke, looking back at the building just hit by the strike, his daughter silent in his arms and with the four other children milling around his legs.
He planned to take shelter in a UN-run school to keep his family safe, but he had little hope it would guarantee protection.
“The schools aren’t safe either, they hit the schools,” he said.
At least 153 schools in Gaza, including 90 run by the UN, have been damaged by Israeli air strikes or shelling during the conflict, the UN children’s fund UNICEF says.
Three deadly strikes on UN schools in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its assault on the territory on July 8 stirred international fury. “Why is the whole world sleeping, why?” asked Masri quietly. “Children and women are being targeted, and the world is sleeping.”
As talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a lasting truce failed to achieve concrete results, Palestinian militants fired two rockets at southern Israel before the 72-hour ceasefire ended at 0500 GMT.
AFP
