Basheer al-Ghandour, who fled Beit Lahia for Jabalia after the attack, told the BBC people were sleeping when suddenly “intense bombing” hit overnight.
“It came from all sides – air strikes and warships. My brother’s house collapsed. There were 25 people inside,” he said.
He said 11 people were injured and five killed, including his nieces, aged five and 18, and a 15-year-old nephew. He and others tried to free relatives from the rubble.
“My brother’s wife is still under the rubble – we didn’t manage to rescue her. Because of how intense the bombing was, we had to flee,” he said.
“We didn’t take anything with us – no furniture, no food, no flour. We even left in bare feet.”
Another survivor, Yousif Salem, told reporters he and his three children had “just escaped death”.
“An air strike hit our neighbours’ home – none of them survived,” he said.
He said artillery shells began hitting near their house as they were trapped inside. When he tried to leave, a quadcopter drone opened fire, he said.
He made a second attempt under heavy shelling, he said. All roads were blocked, but they managed to find a side road.
“We escaped only minutes before Israeli tanks encircled the area,” he said.
Read More: Nearly 100 people killed in Israeli attack on north Gaza, rescuers say
