“The Shells Fell Like Rain”

14.07.2024

PCHR’s Field Researcher and Survivor of Attack on UNRWA School Shelters Shares Her Story

 Zainab Ahmad Mohammad Al-Khaldi, a resident of Al-Sudaniya area in northern Gaza and a volunteer field researcher.

On 07 July 2024, as we usual do, we headed to shelters and healthcare facilities such as Al-Maamadani Hospital or Kamal ‘Adwan Hospital in order to document the Israeli violations committed against children in northern Gaza.

At around 18:00, I left Al-Maamadani Hospital and headed to UNRWA-run Daraj Schools, near the Jabalia parking lot and not far from Al-Maamadani Hospital.  These schools are considered the largest and most overcrowded school shelters for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from across Eastern Gaza.

Just when I was about 10 meters away to the south of the first school entrance, the situation was suddenly turned upside down. Israeli warplanes launched more than six missiles in the proximity of the area, just 150 meters away to the east of the school, near what is known as the market stall, enticing fear and panic among the displaced, especially children and women.

Nevertheless, I went on and entered the school to do my work and fill out forms for children injured during the war. I thought that the school would be safer since it is run by UNRWA and is considered a civilian object expressly protected under international law, so I chose to stay among the IDPs there.

While at the school, anxious and cautious, I started filling out several forms and taking testimonies from the women there. At 18:30, More than seven shells struck the school yard and the buildings, hitting the third and fourth floors.

All of a sudden, IDPs in crowds started rushing out of school running for their lives, while shells continued to fall like rain.

I do not know how I was running with such crowds; no one knew what was going on or where to go. When I reached Yafa Street coming from Al-Sidra area, a shell fell in the proximity, and shrapnel scattered on people fleeing the looming threat of death. I fell on the ground as the burning shrapnel hit my under knee; too hot black fragments stuck to my body, causing burns and wounds. It looked like molten metal, red and black in color.

I tried to move forward and leave the area with the help of some of IDPs.  They took me to the Jabalia parking lot where I saw several dead bodies lying on the ground along with people injured, all of them women and children. No one paid attention to them out of panic and fear. I saw a cart transporting the injured to Al-Maamadani Hospital, which turned out to be closed due to evacuation orders from the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF), so they were referred to the Indonesian Hospital.

Despite my injury, I kept walking, with fear overshadowing the pain. I was running so fast with other people and sobbing from exhaustion and fear.  I arrived at Al-Sahaba intersection where Israeli quadcopters were unprecedentedly covering the sky and flying very low while opening fire randomly. The scene resembled the horrors of Judgment Day, as panicked crowds tried to escape, running for their lives.

When I reached Dabeet area, I had a good phone signal. I could no longer walk out of severe pain, and some colleagues contacted me to check on me. I was then transported to the Friends of the Patient clinic. Less than two hours later, I heard artillery shelling and heavy gunfire in the proximity of the universities area, so I decided to leave and head northwards to Al-Safatawi area.