Blaine family mourns relatives killed in Israel-Hamas war
The Israel-Hamas war has tragically affected one local family in Blaine, Minn. A bomb strike Sunday in southern Gaza killed several members of Fatma Abumousa’s family and critically injured others.
Abumousa’s sister-in-law, Hiba, and two of Hiba’s children — Hmaid, 18, and Abdelrahman, 7 — were among those killed. Hmaid wanted to be an electric engineer, Abumousa said. Although Hiba was her sister-in-law, Abumousa called the architect and author her sister.
Abumousa also lost a cousin, Hani, and another nephew, Yusef, 6, who had started kindergarten last month. Hani had evacuated out of northern Gaza. Israel warned civilians last week to leave the area.
Abumousa said there have been too many people killed in the war. And she's done with it. “It's very hard time. I hope I have to wake up and I find everything is ended up. That's it. I want this to stop. It's enough,” she said
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Abumousa and her husband Jehad Adwan have been visited by fellow members of the Palestinian community. They bring coffee and dates — a traditional Palestinian offering during periods of mourning.
The couple have done a number of interviews with local reporters, and they have their hands full with their 21-month-old son, Yaman.
Sorrow, however, is always nearby for Abumousa. She scrolls her phone for updates or just to look at pictures of her now-departed loved ones. She weeps looking at the images.
Tuesday night’s bombing of a hospital in Gaza adds to the family’s despair. Adwan said they reacted in shock to the images.
“It's just like one thing builds on another. You know, it’s the collective Palestinian memory of trauma after trauma,” he said.
“If you look at people who are traumatized from war, there is an end at the end of the war where you can actually say someone has PTSD. For us, the post part hasn’t even come yet. It has a cumulative ongoing trauma since Palestinians were made refugees in the 1948 War.”
Abumousa said she still expects to see a text from Hiba on her phone.