Palestinian family distraught after IOF demolition of its home

Marwa al-Atrash, her husband Maher, and their five children received the new year in a mere tent after the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) demolished their family house in southern al-Khalil.

The Atrash family has been building its home for three years. The IOF destroyed it in two hours.

“It was around 8 am when the neighbors called, telling us to come quickly, and that there were bulldozers and hundreds of Israeli soldiers outside our house,” Marwa al-Atrash said.

‘In the end, I couldn’t save our home. Within two hours, the house was destroyed, and they left us with the rubble’

Standing next to the rubble of their home with his wife and five children, all aged between three and 13, Maher said the demolition process was the toughest moment of his life. 

What makes matters worse is that Maher’s father passed away a few days after the house’s demolition.

Head of Hamas’s political bureau Ismail Haneyya has voiced the Movement’s solidarity with the Palestinian lady, Marwa al-Atrash, after the Israeli occupation authorities demolished her home.

In a phone call, Haneyya hailed the steadfastness of the Palestinian lady who declared that she would live in a tent on top of the rubble of her home.

The Hamas chief also said that he regrets the Palestinian Authority’s silence over the repeated home demolitions by the Israeli occupation. 

The Palestinian family also slammed the Palestinian Authority’s inaction. 

Haneyya also said that Hamas is proud of the steadfastness of the family and the “spirit of sacrifice” of the martyrs and wounded families.

The Atrash family home is one of more than 950 Palestinian homes and structures destroyed by Israel in 2021, according to documentation compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Source: The Palestinian Information Center