2024-10-08 03:13:50
At dawn on October 7, 2023, Nahed Shuheibar drinks a coffee with his children, after prayer, on the balcony of their large house, which overlooks the most beautiful beach in Gaza, in the far north of the enclave. At the same time, Amal Nassar, six months pregnant, chats with other school teachers on a bus headed to Rafah, on the southern border. Near the hut where he spends most of his nights, in Beit Hanoun, Ahmad Al-Kafarneh already works in his father’s olive groves. From the top of a short limestone cliff, the view extends beyond the concrete walls surrounding northern Gaza, towards the Israeli villages of Netiv Haasara and Zikim.
Ahmad Al-Kafarneh, on his hill, understands very well what is happening. He is used to encountering Hamas militants in his camps hunting down desperate Gazans trying to flee the enclave. “After the first rocket explosions, armed men crossed the border, in cars, on motorbikes and even on foot! »remember. These militiamen are heading towards the Israeli military terminal of Erez, the northern gateway to Gaza, whose blast walls loom behind a tin village, a cornfield and a no-man’s land. “We were sure that the Israelis would shoot and kill them. We ran to take refuge in the village”says Ahmad.
“People were reporting crazy rumors”
Nahed Shuheibar rushed to the Beit Lahya market: “I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it would be serious and that we needed to stock up on food. People were reporting crazy rumors… And then, shortly after 6.30, I saw some kids [du Hamas] who were driving towards the border and I was surprised, because they weren’t afraid to show their faces: they weren’t even wearing masks. »
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