Last Thursday, Jan. 31, Gaza woke up to the frightful news of the death of an entire family of six, including four children, who perished in a house fire in the Al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood, east of Gaza City. According to investigations by the Gaza Ministry of Interior, the fire was caused by a lit candle, which was left unattended as the family members went to bed. Hazem Duheir, 32, his wife Samar, 30, and their four children aged between four months and six years all died in the house fire.

Due to severe oil shortages, locals in the Gaza Strip have been subjected to daily electricity cuts of up to 10 hours since the Israeli blockade was imposed on Gaza in 2006. Candles, kerosene stoves and power generators have become essential commodities in every house in the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Duheir, a relative of the victims who lives in a neighboring house, gave Al-Monitor the details of the dreadful incident. That night, he said, electricity was cut off throughout an entire block in the neighborhood, and after calling the electricity company in Gaza, they were told they would have to spend the night without electricity due to technical problems.

“Having lost hope of having the electricity back on,” Mahmoud said, “we slept in the dark that night. We woke up sometime near dawn to the confusing clamors and the sounds of our neighbors [...] I wish we had never woken. The entire house was burnt down. Civil Defense trucks and firefighters were trying to put out the fire. I was petrified and unable to comprehend what was going on. We didn’t know yet who died and who survived the fire, but when we went to the hospital, we were told that all the members of Hazem’s family had died. Everyone was crying. It was shocking.”