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Ruins of a Gaza house hit by IAF bombing (AP).
Last update - 10:53 03/03/2008
'We thought you wanted peace,' says father of slain Gaza sisters
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: israel air force, gaza 

A day after the Asliyeh sisters, Samah, 13, and Salwa, 18, were killed in an Israel Air Force bombing, their grandfather, Mohammed, was hospitalized Sunday. His blood pressure rose and his sons were afraid he would collapse.

The horrifying images of the girls' charred bodies were broadcast over and over Saturday on Al Jazeera, and Mohammed found himself the unwilling center of Arab and Palestinian media attention. TV cameras were rolling when he and his wife, the girls' grandmother, reached the smoke-filled room, minutes after the blast, and were pushed back by the men inside to keep them from seeing the terrible sight.

A mourners' tent was set up near the family's home in the Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood. The guests' condolences, spoken through a microphone, can be heard over the phone, as well as distant blasts from the ongoing battles between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen.
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The father, Zidan, 42, still cannot digest what happened. For years he lived there with his 12 children, next door to his brother Diab's family. They had almost no trouble. Diab even has a work permit for Israel (which he can expect to lose, now that he is in the category of those whose relatives were killed by the Israel Defense Forces). Like many of his relatives, Zidan used to work on the other side of the border, and still has many Jewish acquaintances.

"Plasterer. That was my profession by you, in Rehovot, in Ashkelon. I always thought you wanted peace, but what did you do? What did you do?! You slaughtered my two girls," he says.

He bursts into tears. Salwa had begun medical school this year and dreamed of becoming a doctor. Samah stayed home from school because of the situation.

Zidan and his wife were away from home, in Jabalya, when it happened. "We heard there was a blast around where we live. Then I got a phone call from my sisters, who told me, 'Come quick, they bombed the house and your two daughters were killed.' I saw their bodies when I arrived. What can I tell you? It's horrific."

He describes the sight in detail, then says: "Did they shoot at anyone? Where they armed? Jewish friends from Israel telephoned me with condolences, but the Jews bombed us when the girls were sitting at home. It's inconceivable."

Zidan's brother describes the events: "We kept hearing planes in the air and tanks, so we decided to bring the whole family, mine and Zidan's, down to the courtyard between the two houses, where we felt safer. But the two girls took too long upstairs. We heard a first 'boom' when a missile landed near the house, followed by a second missile that hit the bedroom window."

He ran upstairs and saw the carnage. "I shouted, 'Samah, Samah,' but there was only severed limbs. If you had seen the sight you would've wept. The missile burned everything there."

Diab, a former volunteer with Magen David Adom in Ashkelon, cannot grasp what happened. "There are no gunmen here. We wouldn't let them near. There are more than 20 children here. We don't want trouble and don't like it, but why did they shoot at us? What did we do to deserve this?"
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Media frenzy
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  1.   If It`s True Then It`s Heartbreaking _ My Deep Deep Sorrow 05:38  |  Eli 03/03/08
  2.   Maybe Israel should have negotiated with Hamas 05:41  |  newageblues 03/03/08
  3.   classic! killed his daughters, killed his peace... 05:46  |  bashar 03/03/08
  4.   Its Tragic: Whose Fault Is This? 06:01  |  Brad 03/03/08
  5.   The two dead sisters... 06:01  |  Silvienne 03/03/08
  6.   War crime 06:16  |  Harold 03/03/08
  7.   Arab liars. The Idf did not kill these kill these girls. 06:21  |  Haaretz lies 03/03/08
  8.   A week later we find out terrorists used their house 06:23  |  Gili 03/03/08
  9.   Terrible plight of the innocent. 06:30  |  PETER SM 03/03/08
  10.   The Righteous IDF 06:34  |  Steve Beikirch 03/03/08
  11.   "PM to tell Rice: Israel reserves right to act freely in Gaza." 06:47  |  Maureen Ann 03/03/08
  12.   Very tragic, that`s for certain 06:59  |  Nechama 03/03/08
  13.   It sucks to live in terrorist Gaza 07:04  |  Motke Chabad 03/03/08
  14.   Another family radicalized 07:21  |  Timothy 03/03/08
  15.   Yet again 07:48  |  Shmulik 03/03/08
  16.   to diab ; they slaughter your dughters and called ur people teror 07:55  |  JOHN MCARTHUR 03/03/08
  17.   Well, the Haaretzi gets an orgasm from such pictures. 07:56  |  Andreas 03/03/08
  18.   It couldn`t have been the IAF 08:04  |  Shimon Richentaffels 03/03/08
  19.   I`m Surprised To Learn These People Don`t Really Want To Die 08:29  |  Yosemite 03/03/08
  20.   Haaretz = AlJazeera???? 08:35  |  B`Galil 03/03/08
  21.   TO GILI #8 08:37  |  Steve Beikirch 03/03/08
  22.   Our failure on the Medias front. 08:43  |  Jean Van Daem 03/03/08
  23.   BS sob story...terrible that these girls got killed BUT 08:44  |  SLAVO 03/03/08
  24.   after reading some responses 08:45  |  weezer 03/03/08
  25.   response to #8 08:53  |  brain 03/03/08
  26.   a grandfathers loss 08:59  |  izak 03/03/08
  27.   HOW DARE THEY SHOW YOUR BRUTALITY 09:00  |  Sovan 03/03/08
  28.   How can it be Israels fault? 09:08  |  Natallie Durson 03/03/08
  29.   HEY AVI: GO FUCK YOURSELF. YOU AND HE PROBABLY MADE THIS UP 09:24  |  Steve Randolph 03/03/08
  30.   Sincerest condolences to the family of Samah and Salwa 09:33  |  hala 03/03/08
  31.   what a shame, hamas 100% responsible 09:39  |  don 03/03/08
  32.   THEY CAN KILL JEWS CIVILIANS ANYTIME 09:56  |  BOB KING THE ZIONIST 03/03/08
  33.   And now the veteran naysayers.... 10:02  |  Esther 03/03/08
  34.   STOP THE ROCKETS STOP THE WAR CRIMES 10:04  |  GZLives 03/03/08
  35.   who is to blame? only Hamas 10:10  |  Sharona 03/03/08
  36.   Condolences and prayers for it all to stop 10:17  |  Amy 03/03/08
  37.   SILVIENNE 10:21  |  DANNY 03/03/08
  38.   To hala...their parents are repsonsible for this!!!! 10:22  |  Crude boor 03/03/08
  39.   Hamas wake up and see what YOU are doing to your people 10:23  |  george 03/03/08
  40.   to Bashar....your terror will not work! 10:24  |  SLAVO 03/03/08
  41.   #17 Andreas - You are, ispeak as one disturbed 10:25  |  Elihu 03/03/08
  42.   Biased headline. 10:26  |  Michael 03/03/08
  43.   ANOTHER "HADITHA" IN GAZA 10:26  |  indrajaya 03/03/08
  44.   It`s tragic 10:27  |  Wolf 03/03/08
  45.   Steve #21 10:30  |  Karen 03/03/08
  46.   Winning hearts and minds "Israeli style"....... 10:32  |  Swiss (Dino) 03/03/08
  47.   #13 Chabad - What an insensitive, boorish statement 10:33  |  Elihu 03/03/08
  48.   Plastering in Ashkelon? Picking targets for Qassams 10:51  |  Absolute Sweden 03/03/08
  49.   Pallywood 10:57  |  myfinger 03/03/08
  50.   Something to consider, all of you..... 10:57  |  Johnboy 03/03/08
  51.   Thats sloppy slavo...how do their kids 11:17  |  kiwi girl 03/03/08
  52.   We share the same emotions, bus bombings killed our loved ones 11:20  |  De 03/03/08
  53.   Oslo , Arab Plan , Road Map , All Are Build To Kill 11:33  |  Joseph . E 03/03/08
  54.   IWhat savagery killing. 11:47  |  Dutch 03/03/08
  55.   #11 mmmmoaning ann and even more misinformation 11:50  |  v hardman 03/03/08
  56.   staggering racism 11:51  |  Sylvie 03/03/08
  57.   I BOW TO THOSE INNOCENT PALESTINIAN BABIES, CHILDREN AND WOMEN 11:52  |  Steve 03/03/08
  58.   palestinians in Heaven 11:52  |  Brazilian Jew 03/03/08
  59.   #2 blues believes in talking to the trees too ! 11:54  |  v hardman 03/03/08
  60.   POOR PEOPLE...PROBABLY THE CHILDREN 12:00  |  Robert 03/03/08
  61.   he speaks for the whole world 12:06  |  bingbong 03/03/08
  62.   You Can`t Have It Two Ways... 12:10  |  guy 03/03/08
  63.   To 14, Timothy: Soon every Palestinian might be an radical 12:10  |  ruiz 03/03/08
  64.   Jihad Say Peace Only To Assert Dhimmitude . 12:11  |  Joseph . E 03/03/08
  65.   for Dhimmitude Jihad Blind Justice By Exploiting Petro-Dollars 12:12  |  Joseph . E 03/03/08
  66.   to bashar and Durson 12:13  |  Harry 03/03/08
  67.   hala #24 12:15  |  TonyL 03/03/08
  68.   Man demirachem al achzarim 12:18  |  Dr Eric 03/03/08
  69.   Haaretz always selling this hogwash !! 12:21  |  Lisa 03/03/08
  70.   This is the unvarnished meaning of collateral damage 12:22  |  Fairplay 03/03/08
  71.   Israel is being WAY TOO NICE to the Gazans!!! 12:26