'They turned Nuseirat to blackness' - Palestinians reel after massacre

Though I am now in Egypt, my family and friends still remain in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, which was recently attacked by Israel. I woke up to this news on Saturday, but couldn't reach anyone at the time because all connections were down in central Gaza. Here's what I eventually learned after talking to people on the ground.

It was shortly before noon on Saturday, June 8. With Eid Al Adha just a week away, hundreds of people were shopping in the main outdoor market in Al Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Suddenly, the sky turned thick with smoke, and noisy from the sound of drones, helicopters and rockets. Panicking, shoppers began to run, but many could not avoid the heavy shelling, air bombing and drone strikes.

Our neighbourhood is crowded with children. They were screaming and shouting in the street; they didn't know what was happening.

All the people didn't know what was happening. My father told me this was the hardest two hours out of more than 230 days of war. My mother told me in those two hours she felt like it was the Day of Judgment, the end of the world. I told her 'when the Rafah crossing opens, I will take you outside of Gaza.'

The sky became black. There was the sound of bombing, the sound of aeroplanes, the sound of screaming. Darkness, ash, heavy clouds of smoke, blood, airstrikes. Our neighbours are dead, there were dead bodies all around, death everywhere. You could see the rubble of our market.

Ala is gone

My friend Ala went to the market to buy some small clothes for her one-year-old daughter. Some dresses to celebrate Eid. Israel killed Ala, her mother and her daughter, when they were just trying to buy clothes for Eid.

They were among the at least 274 people killed in the attack, at least 64 of them children.

My uncle who had a small shop in the middle of the market saw a helicopter flying low, and Israeli soldiers coming out of it, which made him feel afraid.

He was lifted up from the force of an explosion. He flew up to the sky and when he landed, he injured his spinal cord. There is nowhere to go for treatment because the hospital is over capacity.

He is among the almost 700 injured from the airstrikes, shelling and gunfire in one of Gaza’s most crowded places.

What does it mean when they have this big massacre in the crowded Nusairat camp? Why did Israel attack this area and in this situation? More than 200 people died just for four Israeli people. How can we imagine that 200 people have their duty to die just because of four people. As Gazans we feel that we have lost our belief in life and humanity.

Griefful Eid in Gaza

Eid Al Adha is coming. Eid al Adha has a big love in our hearts.

But now we see blood outside our homes as people are being killed. We are not celebrating any more. This blood doesn't come from sheep or goats, this blood is coming from human beings. How can we celebrate these bloody days with the blood of humans?

For Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, people are just trying to give their small children a small t-shirt. They go to the market to buy it. Just to make their children feel happy. At least if they are dying, they die with happiness.

Just this small thing, Israel targets this. A crowded market, people are fasting in Dhul Hijjah, and Israel bombed this small thing of life.

We used to wake up early on Eid, my father took us to pick out a sheep, my sister was screaming about the sheep. At night all my uncles and aunts would come to my house and we had a big meal. We gave some meat to people who needed it, to poor people.

Each person in the street could smell the meat cooking in Al-Nuseirat camp. Now you smell the blood and meat of human beings, it's really horrible to see this inside of our camp.

Not just numbers

No people can go to the market to rebuild the area.

My family wants to stay in Al Nuseirat. There's nowhere to leave. Rafah was bombed, Khan Yunus was bombed, Deir Balah was bombed. Where will people go?

People were just screaming, 'our God where do we go? Take us to you.' People now, they just hope to die. They don't want to witness this bloody massacre.

We feel that Palestinian blood is really cheap when you are seeing we are killing so many of us for four Israeli people. Israeli blood is more expensive than our blood. Why are they dealing with us like that?

How can the world justify this death, just because of four people? We are human. We are trying to survive and live in peace. We want to celebrate Eid. Israel attacked our celebration, attacked our hearts.

And they are not just numbers. The people who died were children, mothers, sons, lovers, dreamers. It's not just 274 people, it's 274 stories, it's 274 dreams.

The ones who remain are survivors. They are trying to survive Gaza. Ask each one of them, what do you want? They'll say, 'I went to the market to buy something, to feel alive.'

They save money to leave this death arena.