Nuseirat massacre: 'The quadcopters were shooting at anything that moved'

Survivors of Saturday's massacre in Nuseirat in central Gaza have recounted a "nightmare" situation that saw hundreds killed and many more left wounded as part of an Israeli operation to free captives.

Sharifa Hassan, 35, and her husband, Yehia, were preparing lunch in front of the crowded house in Nuseirat where they had sought refuge when the Israeli army started their assault.

"Dozens of helicopters and quadcopters suddenly appeared in the sky. I thought it was an air aid, but they started shooting and bombing randomly,” Sharifa recounted.

Sharifa and her family had already fled from Gaza City to Rafah and then to Nuseirat after the Israeli army announced it as a so-called safe zone.

“We rushed to take shelter behind a wall, all the while thinking about our eight-year-old daughter who had gone to buy snacks from a nearby grocery,” Sharifa said.

“The quadcopters were shooting at anything that moved in the area. Many of our neighbours were killed or left bleeding on the ground. After a few minutes, we heard the loud sounds of trucks. We thought it was civil defence or ambulances, but it was tanks.

“Yehia fainted, and I was just crying because we couldn’t understand what was happening.

“The tanks filled the street and bombed any house that showed any movement. One tank moved over and crushed a man who was injured in his leg. It was the most painful thing I’ve ever seen in my life."

Abdulfattah Aouda and his 73-year-old father were, for their part, on their way home after shopping in Nuseirat's main market when their day took a horrifying turn.

"It was a normal day until we heard multiple air strike explosions around us. We quickly decided to get inside a nearby school, but an air strike hit a trash container beside us," Aouda recalled.

"My father, bleeding, fainted and fell to the ground. I carried him and ran to the school. He had shrapnel injuries on his hand and bladder."

Aouda and his father stayed in the school, along with other evacuees and injured people, all unsure of what was happening until the forces withdrew.

"I tried to stop my father’s bleeding while people rushed in all directions, searching for their loved ones or taking shelter from the continuous bombardment. It was like a nightmare," Aouda said.

"This was not an operation to free captives - it was a massacre, killing more innocent children and women. We couldn’t bear more loss and pain."