Representational.
Gaza City: Saddam al-Yazji, his wife Heba, and their 11-year-old daughter Maryam break their Ramadan fast beside the ruins of what was once their four-story home in the Rimal neighbourhood. Their iftar meal — a simple noodle soup — is eaten at a folding table set in the dirt, next to a towering heap of shattered concrete and twisted metal. Beneath the debris lie the remains of about 20 relatives still unrecovered.
In December 2023, an Israeli airstrike levelled the family's house, killing 40 members of the extended family in a single strike. Among the dead were al-Yazji’s parents, three brothers, sister and most of their children, as well as his wife’s parents and siblings. Twenty-two children were among those killed. Al-Yazji, 35, his wife and daughter survived because they were in another section of the house. The only other survivors were a niece and her pregnant mother.
Before the war, Ramadan meant large family gatherings hosted by al-Yazji’s father, Kamel al-Yazji, a former Palestinian Authority judge and chairman of the Palestinian Athletics Federation. Saddam used to run a supermarket on the ground floor of the family home.
The strike occurred during Israel’s military campaign launched after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage. Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 72,000 people, nearly half women and children, have been killed in the conflict, with around 8,000 more still buried under debris.
A ceasefire that took effect in October has allowed limited recovery efforts, though much of Gaza remains devastated. Nearly the entire population of 2.1 million is displaced, and more than 80% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed. For families like the al-Yazjis, Ramadan underscores the scale of personal loss.
Based on an AP report