Hassan Al Hallaq's sons Kenan, 6, and Saji, 4, were both killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza City
Hassan Al Hallaq did what any sensible parent would do: When the latest bout of violence erupted here, he moved his family - heavily pregnant wife, Samar, and two young sons - away from their apartment on the outskirts of town and into the middle of Gaza City.
Away from the border, away from the tunnels, the rockets and the front line, All Hallaq thought his wife and sons Kenan, 6, and four-year-old Saji would be safe.
The IT manager at a Palestinian bank had lived with his family through two previous wars and knew his neighborhood in East Gaza would be targeted by the Israelis because it is close to the border.
So he did what the Israelis always told Gaza residents to do: He packed his belongings and moved his entire family along with his parents to his sister's apartment deep into the city.
That apartment complex was made up of several buildings, dozens of apartments, hundreds of residents and visitors - it's in a middle-class neighborhood.
"We thought that it was the safest place in Gaza City because it is the center of the city also the Israelis through to their warnings to all dangerous areas, they say, we advise that you move to the center of the city," Al Hallaq told NBC News from his bedside, still recuperating from the devastating blast.
On Sunday, as his family was preparing to break the daily Ramadan fast at about 7 p.m., two Israeli missiles slammed into the building where they were staying along with his parents.
RIP: Hassan Al Hallaq's wife Samar, 29, was due to give birth within days
"All of a sudden we hear a huge explosion happened in the house. I found myself thrown on the floor, everybody screaming around... I was sitting in the outer room with my father and my two brothers ... the rest of the family are in the back of the house - all of them have passed away. Only we who were sitting in the outside room survived."
Al Hallaq and his two brothers and father survived.
His 29-year-old wife, his mother, his sister and the three children who were in the back part of the home were killed. His wife was due to give birth within days to their third boy. They were married for seven years, but it was all gone in a matter of seconds.
The IT manager, who studied abroad as part of an
educational opportunity with Oxford Brookes University, never wanted to leave Gaza.
Despite all of the challenges, he wanted to raise his children in Gaza close to his family.
"
I did my best to raise my children, to prepare them ... to let them live a peaceful life, and all of a sudden I lost everything, I lost the memories, I lost the plans, I don't know ... I lost everything, I don't have any thoughts of what's coming."
It's civilians like Al Hallaq who are paying the price of the fight. Israel carries out punitive airstrikes against Hamas militants with deadly consequences for the very same residents it evacuated from other neighborhoods.
More than 70 percent of those killed have been civilians, according to the United Nations.
Nowhere is safe.This type of civilian devastation has led the UN Human Rights chief to say that
Israel may be committing war crimes. But High Commissioner Navi Pillay, opening an emergency debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, also condemned the indiscriminate firing of rockets and mortars by Palestinian militants into Israel.
The international condemnations mean little to families in Gaza who feel the international community has abandoned them.
They are even more meaningless to survivors like Al Hallaq, who know they will never have their families back in their arms despite everything they did to protect them.
Deaths: 1,044 โ 237 children, 93 women 18-60 years, 47 persons over 60 years
Injuries: 6,280 โ 1,952 children, 1,172 women 18-60 years, 259 over 60 years. ....
Massacres Against ENTIRE Families
1. Hamd Family in Beit Hanoun โ 6 martyrs. [Link] "Why did they kill my entire family?" [Link] 2. Kawareโ Family in Khan Yunis โ 8 martyrs. [Link] 3. Al Manasra Family in Central Gaza โ 4 martyrs.
4. Al Hajj Family in Khan Yunis โ 8 martyrs. [Link] 5. Abu Jameโ Family in Khan Yunis โ 2 martyrs.
6. Abd Al Ghafour Family in Khan Yunis โ 2 martyrs.
7. Ghanaam Family in Rafah โ 4 martyrs.
8. Al Arja Family in Rafah โ 2 martyrs.
9. Al Astal Family in Khan Yunis โ 3 martyrs.
10. Al Sawali Family in Khan Yunis โ 2 martyrs.
11. Al Batsh Family in Gaza โ 17 martyrs. [Link] [Link] [Link] 12. Sheikh El-Eid Family in Rafah โ 3 martyrs
13. Abu Daqqa Family in Khan Younes โ 3 martyrs
14. Bakr Family in Gaza City โ 4 martyrs, all children [Link] [Link] 15. Zoโrob Family in Khan Younes โ 3 martyrs
16. Al Astal Family in Khan Younes โ 4 martyrs
17. Shehaibar Family in Sabra, Gaza City โ 3 martyrs, all children
18. Abu Musnina Family in North Gaza โ 3 martyrs, all children
19. Abu Jarad Family in North Gaza โ 8 martyrs
20. Shaat Family in Khan Younes โ 4 martyrs, all children
21. Nateez Family in Gaza โ 3 martyrs, 2 children
22. Radwan Family in Khan Younes โ 4 martyrs
23. Abu Mussallam Family in North Gaza โ 3 martyrs, all children
24. Zweidy Family in Beit Hanoun โ 5 martyrs [Link] 25. Zabout Family in Zaitoun โ 2 martyrs
26. Salhiya Family in Khan Younes โ 4 martyrs
27. Rahd Family in Beit Lahiya โ 2 martyrs
28. Hamouda Family in Beit Lahiya โ 2 martyrs
29. Isleem family in Shajaia โ 5 martyrs
30. Alshaer Family in Khan Younes โ 4 martyrs
31. Alhaia Family in Shajaia โ 4 martyrs
32. Ziadah Family in Bureij โ 3 martyrs [6 martyrs] [Link] 33. Ayaad Family in Shajaia โ 10 martyrs [Link] 34. Ridwan Family in Khan Younes โ 4 martyrs
35. Abu Moammer Family in Khan Younes/Rafah โ 6 martyrs
36. Siam Family in Rafah โ 11 martyrs
37. Abu Janaโa Family in Rafah โ 26 martyrs
38. Breโem Family in Deir Al Balah โ 3 martyrs
39. Yazji Family in North Gaza โ 5 martyrs [Link] 40. Halaaq Family in Gaza โ 7 martyrs [Link] [Link] [Link] 41. Hamdiyeh Family in Gaza โ 4 martyrs
42. Al Kilani Family in Gaza โ 7 martyrs [Link] [Link] 43. Hajjaj Family in Gaza โ 4 martyrs
44. Al Radiyah Family in North Gaza โ 3 martyrs
45. Al Moqtaโa Family in Middle Gaza โ 2 martyrs
46. Al Skaโafi Family in Shujeiyah โ 4 martyrs [9 martyrs] [Link] 47. Al Shinbari Family in Beit Hanoun โ 7 martyrs
48. Al Najar Family in Khan Younis โ 5 martyrs * [Link] 49. Abdel Alnaby Family in North Gaza โ 3 martyrs
50. Abu Aitah Family in North Gaza โ 4 martyrs
51. Abu Jazar Family in Khan Younis โ 3 martyrs
52. Abu Hassanein Family in Rafah โ 4 martyrs
53. Al Helou Family in Shujeiyah โ 11 martyrs
54. Abu Shahl Family in Khan Younis โ 4 martyrs
55. Al Najarr Family in Khan Younis โ 13 martyrs
Remembering the Victims
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