Israeli air strikes decimate the last restaurant in Gaza City in a nightmarish bloodbath

Gaza City – Wednesday afternoon, two Israeli air strikes struck the Thai restaurant – the last restaurant still open to Gaza City – turning a gathering place formerly animated in a death panorama. A third, almost simultaneous, the air strike struck a crowded market nearby on Al-Wahda Street, sending body parts everywhere.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least thirty-three Palestinians were killed and almost eighty-dix injured in the three air strikes, according to the Ministry of Health, although the actual number of death is probably higher. Many dead and injured were customers enjoying a hot drink in the restaurant, or people on the market trying to find food during a full spectrum seat that has smothered Gaza for more than two months.

In these days of bloodshed on Wednesday was a particularly bloody day. Earlier this week, Israel has promised to degenerate its already wild assault. At least ninety-two people have been killed through Gaza today, most women and children, Ismail Al-Thawabteh, said Director General of the government’s media office in Gaza.

The scene inside the restaurant the day after the attack was a nightmare. Customers are lying on the ground dipped in their own blood. Pizza pieces were dispersed on the tables and the ground. In my shock, I first thought that red spots on the ground were ketchup, but everything was blood. There was blood everywhere.

Before the war, this restaurant was once a monument from Gaza City – repressing themselves with customers and offering Thai dishes, shawarma and grilled chicken. Destroyed during the Israel carpet bombing campaign, the restaurant was rebuilt during the brief ceasefire which entered into force in January, offering Palestinians here a glimmer of hope and a return to a semblance of normality.

After Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2, most of the restaurants were finally forced to close. The Thai restaurant, in one way or another, has managed to stay open, serving only hot drinks and slices of pizza.

Over the weeks, the restaurant has become a popular gathering place for journalists who are always looking for food sources to load their phones and equipment, and a reliable internet to drop their stories.

I came to the restaurant at least twice a week with my laptop and I sat on one of the tables to finish my articles – to report the genocide in the course of my people in the world. My last visit, there were only two days ago. I thought it was a safe place, but in this country of death, there is nothing like it.

When the bombs fell on Wednesday, Abeer Sabri and her friend were sitting at a table in the middle of the restaurant. The two women were trying to fly a few times from the daily loads of the war and the seat, which is tail for hours to obtain water or light up the firewood to make a thin soup for their children.

“I had not seen my friend for over a year and a half, because of the war and repeated trips, so we agreed to meet here at the Thai restaurant,” said Abeer, 28, still in shock and fighting to catch his breath. “We ordered two cups of coffee, we laughed together – so everything turned into hell.” She was still in shock, when she spoke and struggled to catch her breath.

“A strong explosion shook the place. I felt dizzy and closed my eyes,” she said. “When I opened them, I found myself soaked in a pool of blood; It was not mine or that of my friends – they were other customers. I was incredulous. How did I survive?

Among the dead was a young boy who sold coffee to customers. I saw it every time I visited. I still remember his smile.

Journalist Yahya Sobeih was also killed. He was one of the journalists who regularly attended the Thai restaurant. A few hours before being killed, he had welcomed his newborn daughter in the world. He shared a photo on Instagram of him rocking her in his arms, calling her “little princess” in legend. He could not have known that her first embrace of her would be the last. When his wife learned the news from the death of her husband, she suffered a nervous breakdown and slipped into a deep shock, deriving in and out of consciousness.

The close friend of Sobeih, Soheil Amer, said that Sobeih had spent the whole war with several media. Sobeih was particularly interested in the stories of the displaced and published his work on social networks. “I was shocked when I heard that Yahya was martyred,” said Amer.

The day after the attack, the chief chief of the restaurant, Abu Saleh Abdo, was in a state of disbelief that he had survived the massacre. “How long will we continue to die every day?” Children, women, the elderly, even animals have not been spared murder. There were no fighters here, just customers and families trying to relive the fragments of their past life. What was their crime to bomb like that? It is absolute savagery, “he said.

“There is no hope for survival. If you will not die from bombing, you will die from hunger or illness. This war must stop now. ”

Next to the Thai restaurant, at the street market where the third air strike hit, the scene was even more horrible. The bodies were scattered through the ground. Three family members – a father, a mother and their child – died in a pool of blood. Many street sellers have been killed, their stands destroyed. The body parts of customers who had come to try to find food for their children were scattered everywhere.

Inside the house of Nahid Qanoua, 16, who was killed in the attack on the market, his mother was consumed of sorrow and groans. Tears flowed on her face, as she kissed her forehead for the last time before her body was removed to bury. I tried to comfort it with words of condolence. “He celebrated his birthday yesterday,” she said. “Today, he wore his best clothes and went to the market to find food. What was his crime to kill like this? ”

Wednesday’s massacres occurred in the middle of a sudden seat in Gaza. Famine settles. Flour supplies have been exhausted. Food warehouses are empty. Most charitable kitchens have closed due to a lack of basic products, such as beans and rice.

The attacks do not stop. The bombs fall everywhere, every day. In Gaza, the Palestinians who have been moved several times are bombed in shelters. On Wednesday, two schools sheltering inappropriate families were bombed in Gaza City, one north and one in Al-Bureij in the center of Gaza. The strikes killed forty-nine people, including another journalist, Nour Al-Din Abdo.

Restaurants, charities, schools, shelters and tents have all been affected. At least 235 schools and shelters were bombed according to Al-Thawabteh: “This reflects the clear intention of Israel to cause the greatest number of victims among the displaced civilians. This constitutes a full-fledged war crime and a continuation of the genocide against our people, “he said.

Al-Thawabteh held the US administration responsible for current massacres, accusing him of providing unlimited military, political and financial support to the Israeli government. He called on the international community to take immediate action to stop these crimes, protect civilians and hold Israel responsible for international courts. Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues its relentless bombardment of Gaza.

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