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Gaza -

Tishreen Yaghi searches among the rubble of several destroyed homes for the body of his son, journalist Muhammad, two days after a violent Israeli raid, which resulted in the killing of dozens of his relatives.

All the father was able to find was the body of Muhammad’s wife, Dania, and his granddaughter, September, in addition to Muhammad’s shirt and his camera with which he always documented the events, but his body has not been found yet.

The raid carried out by an Israeli warplane, on Thursday evening, on the house of the Yaghi family in the town of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip, completely destroyed it and neighboring homes, resulting in the death of about 36 people, many of whom are still under the rubble.

Journalist Yaghi (30 years old) worked as a professional photographer with many international media outlets, including Al Jazeera Net. He was also famous for his high skills in editing and photographing documentary works.

Yaghi is famous for being a professional journalist and possessing high skills in editing (Al Jazeera)

The dream of journalism

On the ruins of the house, the grieving father says that his son loved journalism since he was young, so he decided to study it, obtained a university degree in media, and was able to achieve his dream, working as a professional photographer with many international media outlets.

He added to Al Jazeera Net, "Praise be to God. Today he is destined to be a martyr along with his wife, daughter, aunts, cousins, and 36 family members. Praise be to God."

The father, who lives in Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip, and he heard about the house being bombed through the media, continues, “The event happened around eight o’clock in the evening. I heard that there was a strike on Yaghi’s house in Al-Zawaida, and I am in Rafah. The house contains about 40 people. 36 were martyred and survived.” 5, including 3 children, an old man and a young man.”

He continues, "May God give us patience in parting from them. We only say: God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs. These are Israel's goals."

The father describes his son, a journalist, as the type of journalist who loves his work and possesses high skills in video editing. He points out that Muhammad was working on producing a documentary about the work of civil defense men during the war, expressing his wish that he had completed it and finished filming it.

Journalist Yaghi with his daughter September, who was martyred with him (Al Jazeera)

T-shirt and camera

While he was carrying a shirt and a camera, Abdullah Al-Athamna, brother-in-law of journalist Yaghi and his friend, said, “There is nothing left of Muhammad except this,” and he adds to Al-Jazeera Net, “We searched under the rubble for Muhammad, and we only found this shirt and this camera, and we have not found his body yet.” “Maybe it is among the remains, we don’t know.”

Al-Athamneh points to Yaghi's camera and says, "With this, he documented all the events of the war, and everything he did in his life. He worked a lot while photographing and making montages about the war."

Regarding his sister Dania, who was martyred with her husband, Muhammad, he said, “They were the closest thing to me, she is my heart and my life, and Hamada (Muhammad) was not only my sister’s husband, but also my brother. We always went out together, took pictures with each other, helped him, and his whole life was with me.”

Tishreen Yaghi carries the body of his granddaughter “Eyl” (two years old), daughter of journalist “Muhammad,” before she was buried (Al Jazeera)

Annihilating an entire family

While looking at the widespread destruction caused by the Israeli raid, Dr. Ayman Yaghi, the uncle of the martyr Muhammad, expressed his great shock at the targeting of the family home.

He told Al Jazeera Net, "We were in Rafah when we heard the news of the targeting of Yaghi's house here (in the middle of the Gaza Strip). We were surprised. We are civilians, and have no connection to any political organization. When we came here and saw this massive destruction, we found something unbelievable. They threw a barrel of... Explosives turn a 3-storey house into biscuits."

Yaghi said that they exhumed 18 complete bodies from under the rubble, which they were able to identify, and then they began taking out body parts, “hands, legs, and piles of flesh, we do not know whose name it is for?”

He added, "There are 12 martyrs under the rubble, including the journalist Muhammad, my nephew, Tishreen. We do not know how to get it out. The only survivors were 5 people."

Yaghi mentioned that among the survivors was a girl named Rahaf, who was 7 years old. She stayed a whole night under the rubble, and she told them after she was taken out that she was unable to open her eyes from the dust, sand, and sulfur, as she was eating and drinking from the sand. He said that this child, She lost all her family, her father, her mother and all her siblings.

She was quoted as saying to him in the hospital, “Uncle, I slept in the cold for a whole night.” He added, “This child will live in shock all her life.” He concluded his speech by saying, “An entire family was wiped out. They killed 36 people. All my cousins ​​were martyred. We were envious of ourselves.” We were numerous, and in an instant all of them were wiped out.”

Widespread destruction caused by the Israeli raid on the Yaghi family’s home in the central Gaza Strip (Al Jazeera)

Child body parts

Shatha Yaghi narrates her testimony to the crime of the occupation’s bombing of the family home, as she says that she was fasting on Thursday accompanied by a number of those present, and she added to Al Jazeera Net, “After we broke our fast, and everyone took their place preparing for sleep, we found ourselves flying, and then under the rubble, we did not hear a sound, just be.” We were flying around in complete darkness, seeing nothing.” She continued, “I found myself in a hole with the closet above me, with an infant, and under the rubble were all my brothers’ wives.”

Shatha Yaghi came on Saturday morning with the aim of taking some items that she might find among the rubble, but she was surprised to find the remains of a child from her relatives. She said, “I came to take items, and I found the remains and bones of a young child. I don’t know who it was for, perhaps Ibn Mishal or Muhammad. I don’t know.” , Allah is my suffice, and the best deputy".

The Director General of the Government Media Office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, condemned the killing of journalist Yaghi at the hands of the occupation army, and told Al Jazeera Net, “The occupation army committed a new crime by killing journalist Muhammad Tishreen Yaghi, along with his little daughter, his wife, and a large number of their family, as the occupation bombed their house with warplanes and fighter jets, and ruled For the whole family."

He added, "The Israeli occupation army does not hesitate, even for a single moment, to target Palestinian journalists and media professionals whenever it has the opportunity. This is because Palestinian journalists have ably succeeded in exporting the Palestinian narrative and exposing the ongoing crimes of the occupation."

Source: Al Jazeera