Ahmad Mansi died just days after posting a video showing him comforting his children amid Israeli shelling. Photo / Supplied
Ahmad Mansi died just days after posting a video showing him comforting his children amid Israeli shelling. Photo / Supplied
A father in the Gaza Strip who recently filmed his efforts to keep his young children calm amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment tragically died just days later, another victim of the current conflict.
The heartbreaking video posted to YouTube on May 12 shows Ahmad Mansi going to a local market to buy toys for his three children, noting that they are struggling to deal with the bombing by Israeli forces.
In a translated video posted to Twitter, Mansi introduces his children and relays how they are "sad" because of the attacks.
After visiting the market and returning with a game, the camera is rolling as the chimes of the children's toy are superseded by the roar of a jet.
"I hear a sound of an airplane. Don't worry OK?" Mansi says. "Keep playing."
The news was shared on Twitter by a Palestinian medical student who wrote: "These 3 angels lost their father on Eid, n will continue to struggle alone w/o their refuge."
2 d ago, Ahmad Mansi from Gaza was recording a YT vid w/ his children trying to distract them from the non-stopping shelling Today Ahmad was killed by an Israeli shelling These 3 angels lost their father on Eid, n will continue to struggle alone w/o their refuge#GazaUnderAttackpic.twitter.com/TDCLegCAZ1
— 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐝 𓂆 #SaveSheikhJarrah (@mahcknz) May 15, 2021
The deaths were corroborated by a report from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which recorded the deaths of a pair of brothers with the same names, killed on May 14.
The video spread quickly on social media, with users drawing attention to the case to highlight the human toll of the Israeli offensive.
"Know their names, know their stories, they are not just numbers," wrote one.
Know their names, know their stories, they are not just numbers. 2 days ago, Ahmad Mansi from Gaza was recording a youtube video with his children trying to distract them from the non-stopping shelling. Today Ahmad was killed by an Israeli shelling. #Gaza_Under_Attackpic.twitter.com/SprrGMd0PG
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 42 people on Sunday, Palestinian medics said, in the deadliest single attack in the latest round of violence. Despite the toll and international efforts to broker a cease-fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled the fourth war with Gaza's Hamas rulers would rage on.
In a televised address, Netanyahu said the attacks were continuing at "full-force" and will "take time". Israel "wants to levy a heavy price" on the Hamas militant group, he said, flanked by his defence minister and political rival, Benny Gantz, in a show of unity.
Hamas also pressed on, launching rockets from civilian areas in Gaza toward civilian areas in Israel. One slammed into a synagogue in the southern city of Ashkelon hours before evening services for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, Israeli emergency services said. No injuries were reported.
In the Israeli air assault early on Sunday, families were buried under piles of cement rubble and twisted rebar. A yellow canary lay crushed on the ground. Shards of glass and debris covered streets blocks away from the major downtown thoroughfare where the three buildings were hit over the course of five minutes around 1am.
The hostilities have repeatedly escalated over the past week, marking the worst fighting in the territory that is home to two million Palestinians since Israel and Hamas' devastating 2014 war.
At least 188 Palestinians have been killed in the hundreds of airstrikes in Gaza, including 55 children and 33 women, with 1230 people wounded. Eight people in Israel have been killed in some of the 3,100 rocket attacks launched from Gaza, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier.
