As Israel bombs Gaza, British Palestinians mourn their loved ones from afar

As the war unfolded in Gaza and Israel on 7 October, Wala, a British-Palestinian pharmacist born and raised in Wales and whose extended family live in Gaza City, watched the news with horror from afar.

The Israeli military has been conducting an unrelenting bombing campaign on Gaza since 7 October, when Palestinian fighters launched a massive attack in southern Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking 200 hostage.

At least 4,200 Palestinians have been killed, and among them, Wala has come to know, 15 members of her family.

Early on 15 October, she received a call from a cousin with news the family had been dreading.

"'Your uncle's house has even bombed and they've all died,' he told me. Fifteen of them had been killed," Wala said, speaking to MEE using only her first name for fear of backlash.

"My uncle and his wife, three of their adult children, my cousin and her two babies, and the rest of them children."

Read more: As Israel bombs Gaza, British Palestinians mourn their loved ones from afar