Uni professor horrified as Gaza family home destroyed in bombing raid live on TV
A university professor watched in horror as his family home in Gaza was destroyed in a raid on TV.
Dr Mohammed Alshurafa saw the home reduced to rubble in the Israeli strike while watching the news, terrified his parents and younger brother would be inside. The 33-year-old academic, who is originally Palestinian but teaches at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, frantically rushed to call his loved ones, believing they may be dead.
The residential building was hit by a rocket shortly after 3am local time on Sunday in retaliation over violence launched by Hamas at the weekend. Dr Alshurafa watched coverage of the attacks on Al Jazeera helplessly, with his mum Abeer, 52, disabled dad Bahjat, 63, and youngest brother Amro, currently living in the state.
Harrowing footage captured the moment the family home was hit in a strike, with a bright orange flash seen electrifying the sky before erupting into thick, black plumes of smoke. Mercifully, Dr Alshurafa's family were able to get out in time after being given a 10-minute warning, but lost everything - including the family business.
The academic's destroyed home was pictured on international TV as he watched in sheer horror in Scotland (Daily Record)Mohammed, 33, told the Daily Record how he "recognised it immediately" after the building was shown on TV, with the attack coming just hours after another of his sibling's homes was also destroyed. "I thought they had turned the camera towards it by accident but then all of a sudden, there was a big explosion. The house was completely destroyed and I thought my family were still inside.
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"I was calling and calling them before eventually finding out that they had managed to get out. They had to leave everything they owned behind. The family business was downstairs from the house and that’s also gone. The Israeli army phoned my mum at 3am and told her they had 10 minutes to leave and to tell their neighbours to get out. There’s no electricity so it was completely dark. My dad can’t see at night - he has a severe sight-impairment.
"My mum had to choose between telling the neighbours or taking my dad and their belongings out the building. My youngest brother went round the neighbours, smashing on their doors, telling them to get out. After they left, the building was hit with one big rocket. The entire neighbourhood has been destroyed. I’ve seen photographs and I can’t even recognise it and I lived there for 27 years. That’s where we used to play ball and run after each other. But it’s gone now. Everything is just gone."
Mum Abeer, 52, and father Bahjat, 63, were thankfully uninjured but lost everything (Daily Record)
Dr Alshurafa watched in horror as his family's residential building was hit on TV (Daily Record)The family are currently seeking refuge with a relative whose home has also been partially destroyed. "Every time we hear about a new attack, I need to try to contact my family to make sure they’re okay," he added. "But the internet is only working for a few minutes at the time.
"I feel like I’ve betrayed my family by leaving them there. I feel it’s my duty to help them now. I’ve been trying to sell my car to try and raise some money but I’ve realised that I just can’t do it on my own. My friend’s suggested I set up the fundraiser.
"If we can make the £30,000 that will go some way to helping stop my family’s pain. We’re looking to just cover the basics such as buying them a bed or a mattress and clothes if they survive." Donations can be made by clicking here.
Sister Shymaa and her three children have also been displaced after their home was hit (Daily Record)Mohammed's sister Shymaa and her three children - Bara, eight; Seba, six; and Ghena, one - have also been forced to evacuate their home, seeking shelter with his other brother Mahmoud and his daughter Laila, 10-months-old. The death toll in both Israel and Gaza continues to rise after violence re-erupted at the weekend. Latest figures say 770 Palestinians are understood to have been killed and 4,000 wounded in Israeli air strikes, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
And an Israeli embassy spokesperson said on Monday at least 900 Israelis, most of them civilians, had been killed and around 2,500 reportedly wounded.
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