Gaza Family Endures Ramadan Grief After Israeli Airstrike Wipes Out Kin
In Gaza City, as the sun sets, Saddam al-Yazji, his wife Heba, and their 11-year-old daughter Maryam sip noodle soup to break their daily Ramadan fast. They sit at a folding table in the dirt, facing a towering pile of rubble that was once their four-story home in the Rimal neighborhood. Buried under the debris are the bodies of most of their family, victims of a single Israeli strike in December 2023.
Survivors Grapple with Overwhelming Loss
The three are virtually the only survivors from their extended family. Al-Yazji’s parents, three brothers, sister, most of their children, and his wife’s parents and siblings—40 relatives in total—were killed when Israeli forces bombed the house. This occurred just months into the ferocious Israeli bombardment launched after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023.
"I look at photos of our gatherings in Ramadan and cry," said the 35-year-old al-Yazji. "Where is my family? All are wiped out. It’s the third Ramadan without them." Traditionally, Ramadan is a time for family and festive iftar meals, but in Gaza, it has become a season of deep wartime losses for many grieving families.
Memories of Past Celebrations Contrast with Present Desolation
Before the war, al-Yazji’s father, Kamel al-Yazji, a former judge with the Palestinian Authority and chairman of the Palestinian Athletics Federation, brought all his children and grandchildren together for large iftar gatherings. The table was piled with meat, rice, and other dishes, fostering community and religious reflection. Saddam al-Yazji ran a supermarket on the ground floor of their home, which was leveled in the airstrike.
"We were in the same house, in another part of the house," Saddam al-Yazji recalled. "We survived miraculously." The only other survivors were the daughter and pregnant wife of one of his brothers. Among the dead were 22 children, with some bodies retrieved at the time and around 20 relatives still buried under the rubble.
Life in a Tent Amidst Ruins
After the strike, the couple and their daughter lived in a tent elsewhere in Gaza City for much of the war. During the previous two Ramadans, they visited the rubble to have iftar there. When a ceasefire deal came into effect in October, they moved to a tent next to their old home. "Life is empty," Heba al-Yazji said. "The war took everything from me. We wish we had died with them rather than remain alone."
Broader Impact of the Conflict on Gaza Families
Throughout the war, Israel has struck homes and tent camps sheltering Palestinians, often killing large numbers of families at once. Israel says it targets Hamas militants, though it rarely specifies who the specific targets were. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, Israel’s campaign has killed more than 72,000 people, nearly half women and children, with around 8,000 more buried under rubble.
Recovery efforts have increased under the ceasefire but are hampered by a lack of heavy equipment. The Israeli campaign was triggered by the Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 250 hostages, who have since been released mostly through ceasefire agreements. Almost everyone in Gaza has lost at least extended family members, with nearly the entire population of 2.1 million homeless and over 80% of buildings damaged or destroyed.
The landscape of rubble in Rimal district surrounds the small Ramadan table where the three surviving al-Yazjis eat their meal. Saddam al-Yazji remembered the "great dining table" of past gatherings and how they anticipated it yearly. "I feel like I have betrayed them by being alive," he said, encapsulating the profound grief that defines this Ramadan for many in Gaza.
