‘Abd al-Karim Shihadah, a 68-year-old widower and father of three from Jabalya Refugee Camp, spoke to B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah about life since Israel bombed his home on 13 May 2021

On Friday, 13 May 2021, at around 9:00 P.M., I was on my way to the mosque. I’m a volunteer muezzin. My daughter Lulu (31) called and told me the Israeli army had called and said we had to evacuate within 10 minutes. I quickly went back home. When I got there, I found Lulu along with my sons, their wives and their children standing on the street holding some basic items. The children were crying and screaming with fear. I went inside quickly to grab some documents and personal items, and went out. We split up to find cover. Lulu and I hid behind a wall near the house, so we could see what was going on.

Within three minutes, we heard a warning missile explode. Three minutes later, we saw an Israeli army plane bomb our building. It was a big, terrifying explosion that shook the whole area. Bits of debris and glass shards flew in the air and a few minutes later, the house burst into flames. Civilian Defense people came to put out the fire and stop it from spreading. They shut down the power grid so neighboring houses wouldn’t be short-circuited.

A few hours later, I went over to the house and found a pile of rubble. The fire consumed everything. We had nothing left. There were only stones, concrete and shattered furniture. Everything I built with my own two hands, with my savings, over 20 years, was lost in a single moment.

Our house had four stories and four units. I owned all of them. I started building it in 2000. First we built two stories, and in 2018 I added the third floor, after my son Ousamah (30) got married. He’s a police officer with the Gaza police.

I built the building with the money I’d saved up my whole life. In the early 1980s, I went to Libya and worked there as an Arabic teacher for 17 years. Then I came back to Gaza and worked for the Palestinian Authority for 16 years. That’s how I paid for the house and for my sons’ education. I retired in 2013. I didn’t build the fourth floor until 2021, after my son Khalil (28) got married. He’s also a police officer with the Gaza police. Our house was bombed for no reason at all. It was destroyed in front of our very eyes.

When we lived in our house, we had a stable life and financial security. Now we have to rent apartments. We have become displaced persons.

I’m currently living with my daughter Lulu in a warehouse that has a kitchen and bathroom. We live in poor conditions and don’t even have any room to receive guests. I get a 1,500 ILS pension, 500 of which I use to pay rent, water and electricity. That leaves my daughter and me with just 1,000 ILS. We’re living on edge, constantly worrying we won’t be able to survive financially.

The difficult conditions have caused us a deep psychological crisis. We don’t feel that we belong where we’re living. I feel like everything is temporary. My health has deteriorated too, and I now have diabetes.

My wife passed away a week before our home was bombed. Without her, my heart is broken. I don’t know when we’ll be able to reunite the family and build a new home.