SACRAMENTO, California — A Palestinian father is sharing a glimpse into the carnage happening in his country after losing multiple family members to the war.
He said entire families are being wiped out in the most grotesque ways possible, but he's pleading for people to acknowledge them as human beings and not the enemy.
Fahed Abu Shawer, who lives in Sacramento, sent ABC10 a video of the building his family lived in which was bombed in Gaza and reduced to rubble.
"A loss of words, how to describe it, to wake up or to hear that you just lost your wife, your son, your in-laws. It's just heartbreaking, and it's devastating to all of us honestly," said Abu Shawer.
Abu Shawer said his cousin, who's a doctor, was married to a journalist and had a nearly one-year-old baby.
His wife wanted her family to meet the baby and was visiting in Gaza when a bomb struck the building two days ago.
It killed 17 of her immediate family members and several other extended family and neighbors.
"The last thing, actually, she wrote on her social media pages that if tomorrow comes and you can not or you don't hear my voice, or you don't hear of me, keep me in your prayers. She knew. I mean, every Palestinian in Gaza knows that they're gonna get bombed and killed," said Abu Shawer.
The father said there are no other options or choices given to them.
He wants people to know the reality of what's happening in Palestine, which is now in the middle of retaliation.
"This is beyond genocide. This is just the utmost definition of hate and disregarding a human. You doing all this and again; it's the language, the rhetoric. It's saying that they are subhuman, animals and, that way, we feel a little bit better about what we're doing when we go to sleep at night," said Abu Shawer.
He said it's come down to children writing their own names on their tiny limbs just so they can be identified when a bomb hits.
"Just see it, them, us, as humans. That's all, you know? That by itself will change everything. That will make people question what's being done to the Palestinians and it will help alleviate some of the suffering," said Abu Shawer.
He said this shows just how ugly the situation is, and although civilians want to leave the area, many are not given the chance.
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