LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Now we're going to focus on a single attack in Gaza by Israeli forces in a place called Al Bureij. It's close to the northern part of Gaza that the military has cut off from the rest of the Palestinian territory for weeks now. NPR producer Anas Baba was nearby when Israeli forces moved in. An estimated 16 people, including children, were killed. And Baba recorded to bring us this report. A warning - you'll hear gunshots and explosions.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: The Israelis had a limited advancement to the Al Bureij camp. Around 15 tanks - OK? - surrounded Al Bureij from the eastern side. They started with the airstrikes. It was a drone missile.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)
BABA: And after that, they just opened fire - extremely extensive fire.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS)
BABA: And at the same time, they started airstrikes on multiple houses.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION)
BABA: One of them was Aken (ph) house - Aken family house with at least 15 person inside. Ten of them, they were reported dead. All of the houses around this house, they do have collateral damage - partially damaged. We do have multiple injuries from the neighbors.
(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS BREAKING)
BABA: I went to the families, and I met Anas Al Azzazi.
ANAS AL AZZAZI: (Speaking Arabic).
BABA: It was 11 p.m. on Saturday night. They told me that, "we were preparing ourselves to go to bed, and suddenly the airstrike happened."
AL AZZAZI: (Speaking Arabic).
BABA: There was no previous warning for this house to be targeted.
(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS BREAKING)
BABA: I asked him why he was already trying to clean the damage of his house just 10 hours after the strike.
AL AZZAZI: (Speaking Arabic).
BABA: He told me, "we want to live in it, even if it's ruined. Where else shall we go? We will try to find a cover to close the holes of the walls. There is nowhere to shelter in Gaza. This is our fate."
FADEL: That was NPR producer Anas Baba. We reached out to the Israeli military about this strike in Al Bureij. The military said it's unaware of a strike at that location. The Gaza Ministry of Health says nearly 44,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed by Israeli fire in more than a year of war. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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