‘I want to protect them. But I cannot.’ In Gaza, a father tries to shield his kids from falling bombs
LA TimesSince they fled northern Gaza last month, Abdullah Alathamna and more than two dozen of his relatives have lived in a cramped classroom at a school near the border with Egypt. Israel’s defense minister ordered “a complete siege” on Gaza, blocking supplies from entering the territory so “there will be no electricity, no food, no fuel.” “We are fighting human animals,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a member of Israel’s far-right Likud Party. “Tell me u r ok.” Days later, Abdullah typed a heart and brief reply: “I am ok.” Displaced Palestinians at a school run by the United Nations in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 25. But as bombs started falling there — Israel said it dropped 6,000 bombs on Hamas targets across Gaza in just the first six days of war — they all decided to move farther south. “I’m afraid.” Palestinians take shelter from Israeli bombardment at a school in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip on Oct.16, 2023.