December bombings of ammunition storages in middle of Gazan civilian area kill and injure civilians
January 5, 2012
A little after 2:00 A.M. on 9 December 2011, Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a compound of Hamas’s military wing, the ‘Az-a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, northwest of Gaza City. Another missile, which was fired a minute or so later, caused a large explosion and fire. The intensity of the blast apparently caused secondary explosions of ammunition stored in the compound. According to information obtained by B'Tselem, rockets had been fired from the area into Israel shortly before the attack.
The missiles and secondary explosions damaged nearby houses. One of the houses, located only a few meters from the compound, collapsed on its occupants. The father of the family, Bahajat a-Za’lan, 37, was severely injured in the blast and died a short time later. His son, Ramadan, 10, was critically injured and died later that day. Another son, Yusef, 8, was also seriously injured. Other houses near the compound were damaged, and one was totally destroyed.
Miqdad a-Za’lan, 19, Bahajat a-Za’lan’s nephew, whose house is situated next to the house that collapsed, described the events to B'Tselem:
. . . I heard my uncle Bahajat say: “Miqdad, go to the children.” I jumped over the fence separating our house from Uncle Bahajat’s house. . . [Under the debris,] Bahajat was hugging his baby son, Ahmad, and his wife, Sa’ada. Sa’ada cried out to me, “Save Ahmad.” I got Ahmad out from under the debris and went out of the house. . . I returned to Sa’ada to remove her from under the debris. While I was doing that, a third blast shook the whole area. The debris covered me and Sa’ada. I started looking for my cousins in the next room and found Ramadan, 10, and Yusef, 8, who were unconscious due to the smoke of the missiles and the destruction. I also found Rimah, 3, sitting cramped over in the corner of the room. Iman, 5, was sleeping and had not been injured, and I realized she was alive.
I returned again to lift Sa’ada from under the debris, and then I saw that my uncle Bahajat was alive. He said to me, “You’re responsible for my children.” I picked up his upper body and laid it on my lap and then began to clear the ruins around him. But I didn’t succeed. I began to press on his chest to help him breathe, and then cleared the debris from around him and laid him there, until he died.
in full: http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20120105_army_bombing_gaza_dec_2011
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