Witnesses to Israel’s war crimes

"They shouted at us, forced out of the house. We wanted to move right after they attacked us. They ordered us to move south. Soldiers began shooting at us, killing my 17-old-year," Nasir stated.

After their flight from their one-story house next to the Tawhid mosque, on the outskirts of Gaza City, Nasir Hejo and 20 family members fled to a school run by the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel claims to have attacked 1,000 of what it calls "Hamas targets." Independent media, UN aid officials and human rights organizations have documented that most of these attacks struck private homes, mosques, universities, schools, government buildings, police stations and charities. As of 6 January, the death toll from the Israeli attack approached 600 with thousands more injured.

Surrounded by his crying children at the elementary school for girls, Hejo added that the Israeli army was heavily deployed around his neighborhood, from the eastern part of Gaza City, close to the Handasiya cement company, a local landmark.

Hejo and the other family members fled after being forced to leave by the Israeli soldiers but his wife and brother remained behind to try to handle the death of his son.

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