Gaza attacks: Fear, finality, and farewells as bombs rained down

Rocket fire killed at least 12 people in Israel, including two children.After the Israeli military action against Gaza began, Ibrahim’s family, including his parents, four brothers, and three sisters, gathered in one room, hoping they would all survive – or die – together.As Israeli jets attacked, the al-Talaa family began saying their goodbyes.“While hearing the sound of bombs getting much closer and several ambulances coming, we gave farewell looks to one another, and then we warmly hugged,” Ibrahim said.The teenager then wrote a Facebook farewell post. Her husband is a photojournalist so when attacks begin in Gaza, he must leave his family to do his work.“I am fully responsible for protecting my daughters from every tiny harm in this brutal war in the absence of my husband,” Maha said.“I fear for my husband while he is conveying the truth by his photos to the Western world, and for my daughters because all of us – children, women, journalists, doctors and all civilians – are being targeted by them,” she added.Israeli warplanes bombed three houses on al-Wehda street last Sunday, crushing the inhabitants underneath the rubble, an attack that killed 42 civilians, mostly children and women.“They then destroyed the street itself to prevent the ambulances and fire trucks from reaching the destroyed buildings and wounded people,” Maha said.“I fear they will target my apartment while we are sleeping, as they did with the al-Wehda street massacre.