NIN365 Desk, Kolkata : In the quiet village of al-Shuhada, tragedy unfolded under the moonlit sky. Seven lives were abruptly extinguished in the chilling aftermath of an Israeli air strike, leaving a community shattered and a mother’s heartbroken gaze fixed on the vacant chairs where her sons once sat.
Amidst the embers of the fire, the Darweesh brothers—Alaa, Hazza, Ahmad, and Rami—shared a bond deeper than blood. They were not militants with a clandestine agenda, but Palestinian emigrants who had returned, hopeful, from Jordan. Clad in slippers and pyjamas, their innocence contrasted starkly with the accusation that they posed a threat to Israeli forces.
As the sun struggled to rise, paramedic Khalid al-Ahmad reached the haunting scene, haunted by the absence of weapons or signs of resistance. “They were kids without weapons”, lamented Youssef Asous, the brothers’ uncle, capturing the senseless loss that unfolded on that fateful January morning.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) justified the strike by linking it to a prior military operation in Jenin refugee camp, where a female soldier lost her life. However, evidence from both the IDF’s footage and nearby CCTV cameras failed to unveil any confrontations in al-Shuhada, raising questions about the precision and necessity of the strike.
The brothers, armed only with permits for agricultural work in Israel, became collateral victims in a conflict that knows no distinction between armed resistance and innocent civilians. These permits, a lifeline for many Palestinians seeking work, are elusive and precarious, easily withdrawn in the eyes of perceived threats.
In the grief-stricken aftermath, the Darweesh brothers’ bodies, draped in the flags of Palestinian groups, told a poignant tale. Even in death, they became symbols—symbols of a community’s resilience, symbols of lives cut short in pursuit of a livelihood.
The silence from armed Palestinian groups, usually swift to claim their own, echoed the sentiment that these seven men were not foot soldiers in a militant cause. The absence of martyrdom declarations left the air thick with the injustice of lives lost, unmourned by those who often trumpet their fallen members.
At their funeral, tear-soaked eyes met flags of Hamas and other groups, not as a testament to their affiliations, but as a cry against an indiscriminate fate. Relatives, neighbors, and even the head of Jenin’s main hospital attested to the brothers’ lack of connection to militant groups, painting a portrait of innocence marred by tragedy.
Hazza Darweesh, one of the victims, had a regular 7 am dialysis appointment on the day of the strike—a routine etched into the hospital’s schedule, a heartbeat that abruptly ceased amid the chaos of conflict. The hospital’s kidney unit bore witness to the humanity behind the headlines, a man seeking medical care, not confrontation.
As allegations of the brothers’ innocence reached the IDF spokesperson, the response offered little solace. A repetition of the initial statement underscored the grim reality that accountability remained elusive, leaving a grieving family and a mourning community in search of answers.
Ibtesam Asous, the mother who dared to visit the site, stood amidst the remnants of the air strike. Her children had tried to dissuade her, but the need to trace her sons’ last moments overcame caution. Pointing to different spots, she wove a heartbreaking narrative, an act of desperate closure amid the noise of passing traffic.
In the end, the tragedy in al-Shuhada transcended borders and affiliations. Whether armed or civilian, the Palestinian narrative bore the burden of being a target. The distinction between combatant and bystander blurred in the smoke and debris of conflict, echoing the sentiment that any Palestinian life, in its entirety, could become collateral in a larger geopolitical chess game.
As the world grappled with the nuances of the Middle East conflict, the story of the Darweesh brothers became a poignant chapter—a chapter that unfolded in the quiet village of al-Shuhada, where innocence perished in the crossfire of geopolitical complexities. The embers of that tragic night continued to glow, casting a somber light on the fragility of life in a landscape marred by conflict and contested narratives.
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