2023-11-11 23:05:07
Al-Zahra, a suburb of Gaza City, was spared from Israeli bombs until October 19th. On October 20th, entire streets were destroyed.
KEYSTONE
A Palestinian dentist in the Gaza Strip is turned into an evacuation assistant by the Israeli secret service. A role he never wanted – and plays it brilliantly.
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A Palestinian dentist receives a call. «We have to bomb you. They have two hours to evacuate the buildings. Suddenly the 40-year-old father finds himself in a role that he never wanted. The neighborhood in a suburb of Gaza City where the dentist has set up his practice does not exist Not anymore 24 hours later.
Al-Zahra in the north of the Gaza Strip will be spared from Israeli bombs until October 19th. At that point, other parts of the Palestinian territory had been under constant shelling for 12 days.
At 6:30 a.m., the phone rings for Mahmoud, a dentist and father of five in this suburb of Gaza City. A voice on the phone says he’s from the Israeli secret service. She addresses Mahmoud by his full name and in perfect Arabic.
“We are going to bomb the three high-rise buildings and we want you to evacuate them,” the voice instructs Mahmoud. From one second to the next, the 40-year-old is responsible for hundreds of people who live in the three high-rise buildings.
A warning shot as proof of authenticity
Mahmoud begins running around ordering people out of their homes. He wrote until his throat hurt. He keeps the telephone conversation with the man from the secret service open at all times.
Some had warned him that the alarm could be false, he later said. The dentist therefore asks the person he is talking to to fire a warning shot to see whether he is really in contact with the troop that is firing the rockets.
The Al-Zahra district on October 20, 2023.
KEYSTONE
A little later, a bullet hit one of the residential buildings. Mahmoud asks for another warning shot as soon as the bombing begins.
The stranger on the phone says they didn’t want anyone to get killed. He gave Mahmoud the time he needed to evacuate the buildings. This is how the dentist describes the situation to the BBC. This verified the story with eyewitness reports, aerial photos and social media posts from the time in question.
“Why are you bombing us?” “We see things you don’t see.”
As Mahmoud continues to take the residents of the buildings out of their apartments – some in their pajamas, others in their prayer clothes – he repeatedly tries to get the person he is talking to to refrain from the attack. “Why are you bombing us?” he asked. The agent’s answer: “We see things you don’t see.” Besides, he only follows orders. “More important people than you and me are behind it.”
Mahmoud’s dental practice is still standing after the bombing. The neighborhood in which his customers lived no longer exists.
KEYSTONE
He doesn’t say “We’re bombing you” but “We have to bomb you.” After the dentist has cleared the buildings, the shelling begins. At first the rockets only hit one of three high-rise buildings. This is the building they are going to destroy, says Mahmoud’s phone. Then all three buildings are shot at.
When the three high-rise buildings are destroyed, the secret service man says to Mahmoud: “We’re done. You can go back.” Pictures show that the day after, entire streets of Al-Zahra were in ruins.
The horror is not over
On the evening of that grueling day, after evening prayers, Mahmoud sees a missed call from an unknown number. He knew immediately what that meant: another bombing and another evacuation.
Now the man introduces himself with his first name: Daoud. He knows a lot about Mahmoud and knows his son’s name. He tries to explain to Mahmoud why they had to bomb his neighborhood. Whether he saw Hamas slaughtering children with knives. “Our religion forbids that,” counters the dentist, arguing that Israel practices collective punishment.
The secret service employee announced that more buildings in Al-Zahra would be bombed next night. He will have to evacuate more buildings.
Al-Zahra is a field of rubble. Recorded on October 20, 2023.
KEYSTONE
It is now dark and the power is out. People are lighting up their cell phones and don’t know where to go to safety.
Mahmoud tries to squeeze out as much time as he can by talking to the man posing as Daoud. Then three buildings are bombed, then three more. “That’s it,” says the man on the phone.
A little later he reports a new order. They would have to bomb all the houses on the east side of the street. Mahmoud is running from house to house again, shouting that the residents have to leave immediately.
“You can die at any second”
When he once again asks for more time, the secret service man says: “Take the time you need and give us permission to bomb when you’re ready.” «No, I don’t give you permission to bomb. I don’t want you to bomb anything. I want to evacuate the houses so that people are safe. Don’t tell me you need my permission.”
This is how it continues. Building after building falls, the man on the phone tells Mahmoud which one is next. When Mahmoud’s battery runs low, the agent calls a man standing near him and asks for Mahmoud.
UN human rights chief: Israel’s attacks on Gaza disproportionate
Throughout, Mahmoud is careful not to be near his family because he thinks his contact with Israeli intelligence could make him a target.
The next day, Mahmoud finds that the apartment block where he lives is still standing, but badly damaged. The neighborhood where he built his dental practice over the last 15 years no longer exists. He doesn’t think about the material loss, he just wants to survive. That’s why he moved with his family to another part of the Gaza Strip. “You can die at any second, we don’t think about anything else.”
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