“We were at my grandfather’s house when suddenly the rubble started falling on us,” she told Reuters from a hospital bed, her father by her side as she was treated for a broken leg. . “We started crying until the neighbors came and rescued us.”
“I was saying my last prayers, I didn’t think I would live until they rescued me,” she added. “We sat like that for 10 minutes until they broke down the door.”
Matar was injured in an Israeli strike that killed a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group late Saturday evening, the second day of a major outbreak of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Gaza authorities said five civilians were killed in the attack at the Rafah refugee camp, along with the commander – Khaled Mansour – and two of his associates.
A senior Israeli army officer said Israel hit Mansour and some commanders with him. He said the army did not know exactly how many civilians had been killed, but denied that it was five.
On Sunday morning, residents rummaged through the rubble of the camp, a maze of alleyways home to Palestinians whose families fled or were expelled from towns and villages in 1948, during Israel’s war to establish Israel.
Some took a small bicycle and a few books. Another took furniture. Others searched for family documents and photo albums.
The casualties add to the toll of the most serious escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in more than a year.
The parties have agreed to observe a truce offered by Egypt from Sunday evening, sources said.
Israel began staging airstrikes on Friday against what it described as Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. Around 30 Palestinians were killed, at least a third of them civilians. Israel says it is not targeting civilians.
Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of missiles into Israel, where missile defenses averted casualties but people were still forced into shelters.
A HORRIFYING SCNE
Palestinian residents said six houses were destroyed in Rafah. The senior Israeli officer said Israel had destroyed the house Mansour was in and not the surrounding houses, and that the strike had been timed to minimize “collateral damage”.
Ahmed Temraz, whose house was damaged, said six missiles hit the area and there was no warning of the attack.
“It was a horrifying scene, words cannot explain it; injustice, terror and fear of children and women,” Temraz, 46, told Reuters. “It was very scary. People were dismembered.”
Residents had joined rescuers and medics in the rescue operations which continued until dawn, according to witnesses.
Ashraf Al-Qaissi, whose house was about 50 meters from the target area, described chaotic scenes as residents sought to flee while rescuing the injured.
“They hit the area without warning, I ran with my children, and my daughter was injured in the hand,” said Qaissi, 46.
He spoke while sitting atop the ruins of his house, saying he allowed rescuers to demolish it so they could access the target area with a bulldozer to help search for victims under the rubble.
“Trapped people are more valuable,” Qaissi told Reuters.