Israel accused of using call for help to kill Virginia man's family, including US resident
Jabalia, Gaza - The family of a Virginia man of Palestinian descent was reportedly killed in repeated Israeli attacks on their residence in Gaza.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced the massacre in a press release, stating that 14 people – including the Virginia man's mother, a lawful US permanent resident – had been killed in Monday night airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp targeting their home.
After the initial strike, some of the family members were injured but alive, trapped under the rubble. They contacted Israeli authorities for aid and sent GPS coordinates of their home in order to secure ambulance care.
"However, the Israeli military apparently used that information to bomb the house a second time and then targeted the ambulance as it attempted to rescue the survivors, killing the doctor and several children," CAIR stated in its release.
There were reportedly 15 people in the house at the time of the attack, including seven children. A medical doctor, Dr. Ahmed Najjar, was also killed while trying to rescue survivors.
A 7-year-old boy was the only family member to make it out alive.
US government urged to stop arming Israel
In the aftermath of the attack, CAIR once again called on the White House, the State Department, and Virginia state officials to demand an end to Israel's assault on the Jabalia refugee camp, as well as to enact an arms embargo.
"This is a documented Israeli war crime of the execution of a US resident and her extended family in Gaza. The only option the Biden administration has is to stop supplying Israel with American weapons, funded by our nation’s taxpayers, which are being used to kill our citizens, legal permanent residents, and their families," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
"The Biden administration has shown little concern for the mass killing of Palestinians, but perhaps it can be moved to recover the body of a US resident who is also the mother of an American citizen," he continued.
"There must be an immediate ceasefire to end Israel’s genocide."
A continuous flow of US weapons has enabled Israel's killing of at least 42,344 Palestinians in Gaza since last October, according to figures from the territory's health ministry. The British medical journal Lancet and other experts believe the true number to be far greater, potentially upwards of 186,000 as of July.
Cover photo: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP