BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — In the early hours of July 9, Hafez Hamad, 37, was sitting in a small courtyard in front of his house, along with his wife, Suha, 31, his mother, Fawzia, 70, his brothers Ibrahim, 35, and Mahdi, 41, and Mahdi's teenage daughter Dina. They were chatting and drinking coffee, escaping the power cut inside their home, when an unmanned Israeli aircraft fired a missile, killing them all.

Al-Monitor spoke with Amir Hamad, the 11-year-old son of martyr Hafez. With a pale face after losing his father and mother, he said, "I was sitting beside my father and we were chatting when the plane bombed the location. I wasn't injured, but I saw everyone on the ground. I screamed out for my father, yet he didn't respond. I lifted up his hand, but it fell limp. At that time, I knew he had died. I picked up my little brother Nour and ran toward the house."

When Al-Monitor met with Amir, along with the relatives of his martyred mother, he spoke about his brother Nour, 5, who is still in hospital, and his sister Lamis, who is not yet 6 months old. He also has two other brothers, Adam, 3, and Mohammed, 9.

Amir was suppressing his grief and tears, trying to appear strong. This 11-year-old will now have to carry the burden of looking after his younger siblings after Israel took his parents away. "We buried them a little while ago. We said goodbye to them. … I'll take care of my brothers and sister," he said.