Grieving father of baby twins killed by Israel in Gaza seeks elusive answers

The father, who learnt of the deadly air strike while collecting the birth certificates, speaks to The National about his tragedy

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Two days after burying his newborn twins and wife in Gaza, Mohammad Al Qumsan remains in shock, struggling to understand how an Israeli air strike shattered his life and left him searching for elusive answers in a relentless war that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.

In an interview with The National, he said that all he wanted was to "live peacefully" with his wife, Joumana, and their babies, Aysal and Aser. The family had been planning to leave the ravaged enclave in a month, but tragedy struck before they could escape.

"I was planning for our future, hoping to continue my life outside of Gaza," the distraught father, 33, told The National. "But fate decided that I would have twins, lose them, and bury them in Gaza, keeping me forever attached to the land and the sand that holds my wife and children."

Mr Al Qumsan was on his way to Al Aqsa Hospital on August 10 to receive birth certificates for Aysal and Aser. He promised his wife he would not take long, as he knew how hard it would be to take care of the newborns by herself.

After a long wait at the hospital, the only medical facility still operating and issuing birth certificates in the central city of Deir Al Balah, he received a devastating call from his neighbour: his babies, wife and mother-in-law had all been killed in an Israeli strike on their home.

What was supposed to be a happy time in his life had quickly turned into a tragedy, and he was forced to register his babies' deaths instead of their births.

“They didn’t let me see them. I was planning to give my wife the birth certificates at home but instead I was standing in front of the morgue,” Mr Al Qumsan said. "I still don’t understand why the apartment was targeted. Did the Israeli forces hear the cries of my newborn babies and consider them a threat? The Israeli army claims they warn civilians to evacuate if they plan to target an area. Why didn’t they warn us?"

Video taken at a hospital showed Mr Al Qumsan in shock, holding the laminated birth certificates for four-day-old Aysal and Aser.

His wife, Joumana Arafa, a 29-year-old pharmacist, was excited to start her journey as a mother. She had just announced the birth of her baby boy and girl on Facebook, when their home was struck.

The grieving father and husband tearfully recounted the hopes and dreams she had for their babies, which started by giving them unique names.

"She was my wife, my love and my everything," he explained. "She was always helpful and ready to give free consultations to patients. She had dreams that reached the sky, but now she rests in peace with her babies and I am alone here."

The Israeli army said in a statement that “the details of the incident as published are currently not known to the IDF".

Like hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, the family had already been forced to flee their home in northern Gaza on the orders of the Israeli military, taking shelter in a temporary home in Deir Al Balah.

Most of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once since Israel launched its military offensive. The army has repeatedly issued evacuation orders for different parts of the enclave since then, often giving people only minutes to leave before opening fire.

"I tried my best to find a safe and comfortable place for them. I was determined to provide everything Joumana needed to deliver the babies safely," Mr Al Qumsan said.

He lived and worked in Dubai for some time and returned to Gaza only two weeks before his wedding, which took place two months before the war began in October. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and at least 92,000 injured since the conflict began. Israel's strikes and ground offensive followed a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 240 abducted.

As the war raged and a ceasefire became almost impossible to achieve, the couple planned to leave Gaza on October 12. But tragedy altered their plans, as it did for many people in the besieged enclave.

Ceasefire talks started in Doha on Thursday with little hope of a breakthrough, with Hamas staying away from negotiations. The group has accused Israel of adding new demands to US proposals and complaining that additional rounds of talks benefit its war rival. On the eve of the negotiations, Israel launched a barrage of attacks across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

Mr Al Qumsan sighed as he looked at clothes his newborns never got to wear. "All I wanted was to live peacefully with my wife and our new babies," he said. "But now that will never happen, and all our dreams have vanished."