Gaza mourns its dead as the specter of an endless cycle of conflict looms

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Gaza City CNN —

It’s over. The bombs and rockets no longer fall; on Friday night families in Gaza City ventured out to stroll around the main square, or sit on the benches.

But it’s not over. The Israeli drones buzz incessantly overhead. And the events of the past 11 days are only now beginning to sink in. The raw emotions of fear and terror, of loss and anger, will linger on.

In Al-Wahdah street, Israeli air strikes caused three buildings to collapse in the middle of the night last Sunday – killing more than 40 people. Five days later, an endless stream of residents walk by and gawk at the mounds of jagged concrete and twisted metal. Atop one of those mounds lies a bright red teddy bear, its head separated from its body.

Sixty-seven-year-old Mahmoud Abu Al-Aouf lives a few blocks away, but one of the buildings was home to members of his extended family, most of them now dead.

He ticks off the relatives who died. “My cousin, my sister, her son, his children, my niece and her children,” he says. Among the dead was Dr. Ayman Abu Al-Aouf, head of internal medicine at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital. He was responsible for the hospital’s Covid-19 ward.

A stuffed toy found among the ruins on Al-Wahdah street.

“He had just returned from work,” recalls Mahmoud. “And then he was killed.”

Another member of the family, Ala Abu Al-Aouf, was in his nearby shop when the Israeli bombs struck.

“I ran out and saw dust and rubble and heard screams and shouts,” he says.

Eventually rescue workers pulled the bodies of his two daughters, 21-year-old Shaima and 19-year-old Ruwan, out of the ruins.

Ala, 48 years old, says the Israeli military gave no warning. “Our souls to them [the Israelis] are cheaper than a phone call. They could have called and said ‘Evacuate the building!’ You want to hit tunnels? Hit them!” he says. “But you have to warn us. We’re civilians. We have nothing to do with that.”