The pains of war have returned to knock on the door of the Palestinian Matar family once again, not through an airstrike this time, but through severe neurological pains attacking the head of the mother, Suad Matar. These pains forcibly bring her back to the memory of a horrific tragedy that occurred more than two years ago, when she lost her doctor husband and three of her children in a treacherous Israeli attack.
The chapters of the story began on the morning of December 21, 2023, when the family was living their ordinary life in the Al-Saftawi neighborhood north of Gaza City. The mother was kneading bread for her five children, while Dr. Mohammed Matar was moving around the house before a sudden knock on the door broke the calm.
Dr. Mohammed went to open the door, but he barely did so when an Israeli special force ambushed him with heavy gunfire from behind. The doctor returned to his family drenched in his blood, and in his last moments, he told his son Yahya that his father had pushed him away to take the bullets instead of him, protecting his beloved child with his body.
The occupation soldiers did not stop at direct gunfire; tanks began shelling the house with successive shells, turning its walls into rubble over the heads of the residents. The screams of the children Malak, Yahya, Dima, Ahmed, and Fatima rose, as they pleaded with their mother to get them out of the hell of fire and endless collapses.
In those difficult moments, as the rubble was collapsing, Dr. Mohammed tried to give his wife his last will before losing consciousness completely. The shelling quickly sealed the family's fate, as the doctor and three of his children were martyred immediately, while the mother lost consciousness due to severe head and back injuries.
The soldiers stormed the house after the shelling stopped and found the mother drenched in her blood, so they thought she had died and left her among the ruins. In contrast, the two surviving children, Ahmed and Fatima, were transferred to 'Soroka' Hospital in the occupied interior, to begin a new chapter of suffering and forced displacement away from their mother's embrace.
Suad regained consciousness days later to find herself in the hospital, surrounded by news of the loss and destruction that had befallen her family. Eyewitnesses told her that she was seen wandering aimlessly towards her old home, suffering from severe burns and fractures, in a state of shock that made her unable to remember how she survived certain death.
The mother continued to suffer from fractures in her back and chest bones and stable shrapnel in her head, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the tragedy of losing her life partner and children. Suad remained alone in the northern part of the Strip, while her two surviving children were in the center, separated by the occupation's bullets and impenetrable military checkpoints.
After three months of forced separation, the International Committee of the Red Cross succeeded in transferring the two children, Ahmed and Fatima, to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. There, the mother met her children in a scene that blended the miracle of survival with the bitterness of loss, as only these two children, burdened with harsh memories, remained of her large family.
Suad's tragedy is compounded by the fact that her son Yahya's body is still missing to this day, as his body has not been found under the rubble. Although skeletal remains believed to belong to him were found around the house, the absence of a final farewell remains an open wound in the heart of the mother who was deprived of burying her son.
Today, the mother remembers her martyred children; Malak, who dreamed of a promising future, Dima, who had not yet left her childhood, and Yahya, who sacrificed himself for his father. All that remains of them are torn photos and a memory burdened with the details of that morning when the bread dough turned into the color of blood.
Sources close to the family confirm that the mother's health condition remains unstable, as she periodically shows signs of psychological trauma and neurological pain. Despite attempts at recovery, the lack of specialized medical care under the siege exacerbates the suffering of the survivors of this horrific massacre.
Today, Suad wishes for a simple wish that reflects the magnitude of the tragedy, which is for her children and husband to visit her in her dreams so she can hug them, even if only once. She says that being deprived of a final farewell is a pain that days cannot heal, nor can years of long patience alleviate its intensity.
The story of Dr. Mohammed Matar and his family remains a testament to the extent of the violations suffered by medical personnel and civilians in the Gaza Strip. It is a story that summarizes the reality of thousands of families that have been annihilated or dispersed, leaving behind stories of resilience and endless pain amidst the rubble of destroyed homes.
My father pushed me away to protect me from the bullets before he fell to the ground, uttering the two testimonies.
شارك برأيك
Between the Scent of Bread and the Whiz of Bullets.. Details of the Tragedy of the Assassination of Dr. Mohammed Matar and His Family in Gaza