'Like doomsday': Palestinians recount surviving Israel's brutal Beit Lahia offensive

Jacqueline Almasri was feeding her two young children in a schoolyard-turned-shelter in Beit Lahia earlier this month when Israeli quadcopter drones buzzed overhead.

Over the past 14 months, Almasri has lived in several shelters after her family home in Beit Hanoun was bombed in the early weeks of October 2023.

Her husband, Mohammed, and her father-in-law were trying to retrieve food and belongings from the remnants of their home when it was bombed again. Mohammed was killed and his father was severely injured. 

“My son Amir was just 25 days old when his father was killed. His sister, Mira, was only one-and-a-half years old,” Almasri told Middle East Eye. “It’s unbearable to look after the two children without their father.”

But that's exactly what she was doing in Beit Lahia on 4 December when the quadcopters arrived, dropping sound bombs, which emitted loud noises and lights that spread panic among the displaced families.

Read more: 'Like doomsday': Palestinians recount surviving Israel's brutal Beit Lahia offensive