Father of slain twins says he did not get the chance to celebrate their birth
We’ve been reporting on Israel’s killing of four-day-old Palestinian twins in the city of Khan Younis.
Mohamed Mahdi Abu al-Kumsan, the twins’ father, spoke to Al Jazeera about what happened.
“I went to get my children’s birth certificates. My wife gave birth days ago and I did not have the opportunity to celebrate their birth. She had a c-section and she was very tired. She was unable to leave the house,” al-Kumsan said.
Muhammad left his family at home and returned with the children’s birth certificates to find them killed. The twins – Aisel and Aisar Abu al-Kumsan – were buried in the same body bag as their mother, who was a doctor.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that a total of 115 infants who were born after Israel launched its war on Gaza have been killed due to the “bombing and the aggression”.
Aser and Aysal, twins born four days ago, were killed this morning in an Israeli airstrike, along with their mother Dr. Jumana, east of Deir al-Balah. The father was out of the house preparing their birth certificates, he returned home to find that his family is no longer there. pic.twitter.com/q4AnfZRt9h
— Yousef D. Hammash (@YousefHammash) August 13, 2024
Teen killed by Israeli forces, imam among 3 detained in nightly West Bank raids
Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian in Anata town, east of occupied Jerusalem, in another night of military violence in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Wafa news agency, the teenager, Shadi Wissam Sheha, was shot while allegedly throwing stones at Israeli soldiers deployed behind the separation wall. He was declared dead from gunshot injuries at the hospital, Wafa reports.
Three people were arrested later, including an imam, following raids on Qalqilya city and the nearby town of Habla.
Wafa reports that Nida al-Amer, the Imam of the Al-Iman Mosque in Qalqilya, was taken away following a raid on this home in the city. Soldiers reportedly “destroyed and vandalised” the mosque’s contents during a search. Two young Palestinian men were also arrested in home raids in Hableh town, located to the south of Qalqilya.
Other incidents included:
- Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and detonated sound bombs during a raid on al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem.
- Local Palestinians fought with soldiers who raided the Shu’fat refugee camp and the Wadi al-Joz neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
- Settlers attacked Palestinian homes and motorists with stones and clubs after closing the al-Maleh road junction in the northern Jordan Valley.
- Raids were carried out on the towns of Yatma and Qabalan, located south of Nablus, and Ya’bad town, southwest of Jenin.
