Even in Hell Miracles Can Happen

An update on Rachel and Ayman's family. The massacre was awful, but there are survivors, and we can help them.

Ayman and his mother, Zahia, in happier times.

A few days ago I posted about Israel’s murder of the family of our dear friends, Ayman and Rachel in the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza. Given the “fog of war” and “telephone game” that is life between family abroad and family under siege, some relatively good news emerged in the aftermath.

I’ll let Rachel and Ayman explain. From their GoFundMe for the family.

“It is with great grief that we share the news that eleven members of Tala’s family (her grandmother, Zahia; three aunts, Amaal, Aliaa and Sumayya; an uncle, Hani; and six cousins aged 1 ½ to 15: Ola, Ahmad, Yehya, Ibrahim, Amna, and Amal) were murdered on October 14th in Jabalia Refugee Camp.

This, and all the remaining photos, are of martyrs from the family. Photos courtesy of the Sayed family.

Their house was hit by a tank shell, and then bombed again when the army used the home's GPS coordinates to target them instead of providing promised coordination of access for an ambulance. One of Tala’s aunts and four remaining cousins were extracted from the rubble, but the ambulance that came to rescue them was also targeted and hit by a missile from a drone, killing her aunt and all but one child, as well as the doctor who had come to help.

“Media reports have presented this event in a number of ways, as the details emerged from the chaos of the broader attack on Jabalia, and footage posted online includes the bodies of others who were killed in the neighborhood at the same time (https://truthout.org/articles/israeli-massacre-of-palestinian-family-in-gaza-included-us-permanent-resident/ or https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/1846304383216373961).

”The only survivors of the attack on our family were one of Tala’s uncles and his seven-year-old son. They are currently trapped in the camp. Tala’s uncle was partially paralyzed in the second strike but cannot be helped because there is no available medicine, neurological specialists, or space in the hospital.

”Tala, her father, another uncle and aunt, and eight cousins were not in the house at the time, and they remain as well as can be, under the circumstances. They are together for now, outside the camp.

”Jabalia is sealed off. For more than two weeks, no food, water, or medicine has been allowed to enter, and no people have been allowed to leave. The army is moving methodically through the camp, destroying all remaining homes and exterminating the starving residents who are trapped inside. Jabalia has become a mass grave. Words cannot express the horror, or fully describe the suffering.

”We will continue to use your donations to provide for the remaining family members, and hope to provide Tala and her uncle with the medical care they need when the border opens. Thank you for your contributions to that end.”

I thank you as well, for anything you can give to help what remains of my friends’ family survive this genocide.