Gaza father of six sons killed in single Israeli strike mourns loss of 'most precious part of my life'

Ibrahim Abu Mahadi tells The National that his children were buried side by side in one grave

Umm Ibrahim Abu Mahadi, consoled by her brother, mourns at the funeral of her six children killed on April 13 by an Israeli air strike in Deir Al Balah, Gaza. Reuters

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In a single moment in Gaza on Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed Ibrahim Abu Mahadi's six sons. The man who enjoyed the respect of his neighbours in Deir Al Balah says he now feels like the most broken man in the world.

When an Israeli warplane bombed a car near Deir Al Balah that day, there were seven people inside – six of them were Mr Abu Mahadi's sons. The eldest was 33. The youngest was 16.

“With the loss of my six sons, I lost the most precious part of my life,” Mr Abu Mahadi told The National. “They were my support, my joy, my life. Every detail of my existence was tied to them.

“When the news came that they had all been martyred at once, I felt my heart would stop. It was a blow no words can describe."

The father, who took pride in his sons, asked to lead their funeral prayers. “Never in my life did I imagine that I would lead the prayer over my own children,” he said. “But I did. And then we buried them together, side by side, in one grave. My sons: Ahmad, Mahmoud, Mohammad, Mustafa, Zaki and Abdullah.”

The Israeli army said on Sunday that it had attacked a command centre belonging to the Palestinian group Hamas in the Deir Al Balah area of the Gaza Strip, claiming that a large number of its operatives were working in the area, without mentioning the car.

Israel said Hamas "planned to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians" and the country's troops from a compound in central Gaza. They added that steps were taken to minimise harm to civilians, including the use of precision weaponry and aerial surveillance in the attack.

“My sons were civilians, killed in cold blood while in their car. No weapons, no threat – just on their way to run family errands. Yet the Israeli army executed them as if their lives meant nothing,” Mr Abu Mahadi said.

His neighbour, Atta Hussein, 31, told The National that the sons were “some of the kindest, most noble people we knew. Always ready to help, always quick to offer a hand to anyone in need.”

“They were always together – whether visiting family or walking the neighbourhood – known for their good manners and elegance,” he added.

The boys now number among the more than 50,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, health authorities in the enclave said.

The US, Egypt and Qatar brokered a Gaza ceasefire that came into effect on January 19. The first phase expired on March 1 without any progress on negotiating the next phase, but Gaza remained relatively quiet until Israel resumed air strikes last month and then launched ground operations.

Both Israel and the US insist that hostilities have restarted because Hamas is refusing to free its remaining hostages from among the 240 taken on October 7, 2023.

However, the agreement reached in January includes a second phase of negotiations for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire, to take place alongside the release of remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Those talks were due to begin in early February, but they never did, as Israel proposed instead an extension of the first phase.