The Aqqad family was erased in Gaza. But Ibrahim's ink still speaks

Ibrahim al-Aqqad's ink has outlived him. On many streets in Khan Younis and its refugee camp, the elegant strokes of his calligraphy still grace shop signs.

Just four months ago, amid the destruction, he hand-painted the name of my sister's husband's pharmacy: al-Aqqad Pharmacy.

Earlier this month, Ibrahim, aged 54, a father of six, was killed alongside his wife, children and extended family - 26 members in total - when an Israeli air strike flattened their four-storey home without warning. 

The strike wiped out three generations of the Aqqad family in a single attack.

Ibrahim's story is one of thousands in Gaza, including my own, where entire families are being systematically annihilated, killed with precision in their homes, tents, on the roads, and in the ruined hospitals and schools repurposed as shelters.

Read more: The Aqqad family was erased in Gaza. But Ibrahim's ink still speaks