'They were born smiling': Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan, father of two newborns and wife killed by Israel, speaks

For nine months, Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan, a Palestinian man surviving Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, with his wife Jumana Arafa, were looking forward to welcoming their first two newborns. 

As Israel's war on Gaza continued past its tenth month, both Mohammed and Jumana spent several days purchasing clothes, toys, and other things to prepare for the babies arrival. 

"My wife and I were looking forward to raising our babies and protecting them from the ongoing Israeli attacks," the 33-year-old young man said to The New Arab. 

To keep his family in a safe place, the young rented a flat in Deir al-Balah city in the centre of Gaza, which is supposed to be a 'safe zone' as claimed by the Israeli army. 

With overwhelming joy, Abu Al-Qumsan welcomed his two children on 10 August after his wife underwent a caesarean section at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat. He named them, Asil and Aser. 

"My two children were born smiling. Everyone who was there was surprised by the children's smiles. They made me cling to life more and hope for a better future," he remarked to TNA. 

Abu Al-Qumsan went out on Tuesday morning, 13 August, to obtain official birth certificates for the two babies, not knowing that it was the same day that his two children, his wife and his mother-in-law would be killed by Israel.

"When I kissed them and their mother, I felt overwhelming joy [...] I did not know that it would be the last kiss and the last time I would see them all," he recalled. 

From joy and hope to bitter despair

While he was getting the birth certification for his babies, Abu al-Qumsan received a phone call informing him that an Israeli artillery stationed east of the city struck the flat that housed his family.

The call was like a thunderbolt and immediately after receiving his twins’ birth certificates, he rushed to al-Aqsa hospital in the city, fearing for the fate of his wife, his two infant children, and the rest of his family.

Abu Al-Qumsan arrived at the hospital's courtyard, his face pale and sweating, while he was holding the new birth certificates of his two children in his hands. He ran from one corner of the hospital to another, raising his hands and praying to God that his family were okay. But everyone around him began to offer condolences for his bitter loss.

Once he saw the crowds of people gathered around the morgue inside the hospital, he started crying.

Abu Al-Qumsan said bitterly and raising his twins' birth certificates, "My life was turned upside down as the joy of the arrival of Asil and Aser turned into despair. They did not even know the meaning of life and were unable to memorise the features of this world of ours."

Abu Al-Qumsan's wife Jumana was a doctor, who posted on social media a day before the killing that she witnessed the Israeli army directly targetting children. 

Asil and Aser were among at least 115 newborn babies who were killed by the Israeli army, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza.

Since October, Israel launched a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, killing more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.