‘Just civilians’: Families of Gaza school strike victims refute Hamas links
Al Jazeera
Among those Israel killed and claims were fighters are an Arabic professor, a hospital employee and a retired principal.
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – In the early hours of Saturday morning, 24-year-old Sajida al-Kafarna was sleeping with her family inside a school classroom when they were woken by a huge explosion.
“We reassured each other that we were OK, but when I noticed my father’s empty place, panic set in because he had gone to pray dawn prayer,” recounted Sajida.
Sajida’s family was among the roughly 2,400 displaced Palestinians sheltering at al-Tabin School. Her father, Abdul Aziz al-Kafarna, 58, was inside the school’s small mosque when Israel bombed the building.
Sajida paused, holding back sobs.
“My mother, my siblings, and I all rushed to find him. The school was ablaze, and everyone was screaming hysterically,” she recalled, speaking to Al Jazeera over the phone from the Daraj district in central Gaza City.
