A charity worker has shared with Yahoo News UK footage of his destroyed neighbourhood in the besieged area of Gaza.
Mahmoud Shalabi, a senior programme manager in Gaza for Medical Aid for Palestinians, described the moment “one simple rocket” reduced his neighbourhood in the city in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza to rubble.
In a voice note sent to Yahoo via WhatsApp on Sunday - which you can listen to with the video Shalabi also sent above - he describes the aftermath of a “vicious” bomb that killed 10 of his neighbours, including children, and left many others injured.
“My neighbourhood is full of the colour grey,” he told Yahoo. “I hate the colour grey now. Everything is covered in rubble, everything is covered in particles of cement and gunpowder and it's very dangerous to walk right now in my neighbourhood.
“It's really devastating. The aerial bombardments continued all around us in the north of Gaza, we couldn't manage to sleep.
It is unknown whether the rocket described by Shalabi was targeting the Beit Lahia region, or who fired it, but Israel has fired thousands of rockets into the area in what they describe as an attempt to wipe out Hamas.
Shalabi says the sound of the airstrikes were like no other.
In the footage, the camera pans over grey debris of the collapsed buildings, which were once homes to the residents of Beit Lahia.
Shalabi also describes living in a “total electricity, internet and telecommunication blackout”, making it even more challenging to reach the civil defence and the ambulance services.
He adds: “We weren't actually aware of what was happening around us.
“This was all coupled with rumours that Israelis were about to have a very vast ground invasion, so you can imagine the level of anxiety that the people were living in.”
As Shalabi walks through his neighbourhood, footage of broken cars covered with gunpowder and aerial wires lie on the ground as residents come to terms with the events.
He adds says: “As a humanitarian, I am unable to do my work because of the lack of communication, but also due to the fact that suppliers in the north of Gaza have no items available,” says the aid worker.
Israel has accused Hamas of using civilians, hospitals and schools as shields to hide militants and launch sites for rockets. It has vowed to destroyed the proscribed terror group following the brutal incursion on 7 October in which some 1,400 Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed, sparking the current violence.
MAP’s work involves supporting medical facilities, providing essential supplies, and ensuring the health and wellbeing of those affected by the latest events in Gaza.
Mahmoud Shalabi, a senior programme manager in Gaza for Medical Aid for Palestinians, described the moment “one simple rocket” reduced his neighbourhood in the city in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza to rubble.
In a voice note sent to Yahoo via WhatsApp on Sunday - which you can listen to with the video Shalabi also sent above - he describes the aftermath of a “vicious” bomb that killed 10 of his neighbours, including children, and left many others injured.
“My neighbourhood is full of the colour grey,” he told Yahoo. “I hate the colour grey now. Everything is covered in rubble, everything is covered in particles of cement and gunpowder and it's very dangerous to walk right now in my neighbourhood.
“It's really devastating. The aerial bombardments continued all around us in the north of Gaza, we couldn't manage to sleep.
It is unknown whether the rocket described by Shalabi was targeting the Beit Lahia region, or who fired it, but Israel has fired thousands of rockets into the area in what they describe as an attempt to wipe out Hamas.
Shalabi says the sound of the airstrikes were like no other.
In the footage, the camera pans over grey debris of the collapsed buildings, which were once homes to the residents of Beit Lahia.
Shalabi also describes living in a “total electricity, internet and telecommunication blackout”, making it even more challenging to reach the civil defence and the ambulance services.
He adds: “We weren't actually aware of what was happening around us.
“This was all coupled with rumours that Israelis were about to have a very vast ground invasion, so you can imagine the level of anxiety that the people were living in.”
As Shalabi walks through his neighbourhood, footage of broken cars covered with gunpowder and aerial wires lie on the ground as residents come to terms with the events.
He adds says: “As a humanitarian, I am unable to do my work because of the lack of communication, but also due to the fact that suppliers in the north of Gaza have no items available,” says the aid worker.
Israel has accused Hamas of using civilians, hospitals and schools as shields to hide militants and launch sites for rockets. It has vowed to destroyed the proscribed terror group following the brutal incursion on 7 October in which some 1,400 Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed, sparking the current violence.
MAP’s work involves supporting medical facilities, providing essential supplies, and ensuring the health and wellbeing of those affected by the latest events in Gaza.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Almost two days ago, we witnessed the most vicious attacks in the north of Gaza.
00:09 They were aerial bombardments, naval fire, and border fire altogether.
00:14 I have no idea what the type of bombs that were used were, but they were really devastating
00:20 and vicious.
00:21 The next day, around 5 p.m., I was sitting with my kids on the sofa, and suddenly there
00:29 was a huge explosion.
00:32 A huge explosion.
00:33 I have never heard this sound before.
00:37 My child, my daughter, Misk, she started screaming and panickily, hysterically crying.
00:45 I hugged her and I made sure that she's okay.
00:47 I told her there is nothing wrong with us.
00:49 We are all okay.
00:50 I rushed outside immediately to see what was happening.
00:54 I opened the door and they honestly could not see in front of me and could not breathe.
01:02 It was gray.
01:04 It was cement.
01:05 It was gunpowder.
01:07 It was everything, tiny particles scattered all over around me, and I couldn't actually
01:14 go out.
01:15 I shut the door closed.
01:17 My neighborhood was destroyed.
01:19 One simple rocket, just one rocket, that hit a neighbor's home without warning.
01:27 At least ten of my neighbors were killed, including children, and many others were injured,
01:35 let alone the panic that happened in the children and the women, the fear I saw in the eyes
01:40 of the people.
01:42 My neighborhood is full of the color gray.
01:45 I hate the color gray now.
01:49 Everything is covered in rubble.
01:51 Everything is covered in particles of cement and gunpowder.
01:56 And it's very dangerous to walk right now in my neighborhood.
02:00 So I can't as a humanitarian even do my work.
02:02 I can't help the people who are still standing in the north of Gaza.
02:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]