Gift of the Givers member and his brother killed in Gaza attack

NGO Gift of the Givers has confirmed one of its members and his brother have been killed in the Gaza – where Israel has intensified its offensive in retaliation to an October 7 attack by Hamas.

Gift of the Givers founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, said Ahmed Abbasi was targeted while he and his brother were returning from morning prayer on Thursday.

“Ahmed Abbasi, a kind, gentle, warm human being was directly targeted by the apartheid Israeli forces in Gaza while returning from morning prayer today with his brother, both were killed. Abbasi, a father of three, served the people of Gaza with distinction since 2013 being appointed as the head of Gift of the Givers office in the region.

“He was responsible for implementing multiple projects including the care of orphans, widows, elderly and the ill. He delivered water through our desalination plants, distributed food parcels, provided hot meals and upgraded damaged homes,” Sooliman said.

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Sacrifice

Sooliman added that Abbasi sacrificed his life for those in need.

“A few days ago he mentioned that it’s better to sit with his family of 34 in their own apartment and wait for their turn to die in dignity, as unarmed martyrs, rather than run from place to place as directed by the IDF. He was a witness to the lies and deception of the IDF asking communities to move to safety and then bombing them on the way killing hundreds.

“We are grateful that he served us for 40 consecutive days during this war where the cold-blooded murder, ethnic cleansing and genocide of a defenceless civilian population, caught up in a ghetto, took place at the hands of the anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, anti-Christian and anti-Muslim, inhumane Zionist Israeli murderers,” he said.

Supporting Ramaphosa

Sooliman said his organisation supported the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to haul Benjamin Netanyahu before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

“We also fully support the motion in parliament today for the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador with immediate effect and the severing of diplomatic ties with the apartheid state of Israel. We want to add that Israel should be held accountable to pay war reparation in the rebuilding of Gaza and compensate every single family they have decimated.

“To Ahmed Abbasi “to the Almighty we belong and to Him is our return. Rest in peace my friend, you have served with distinction. Justice will be done, God’s wrath will descend and truth will be made manifest. Israel has already lost,” Sooliman said.

Gaza attack

Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children while more than 2,600 people – including about 1,400 children – are reported missing, potentially trapped, or deceased beneath the rubble, according to the Health Ministry.

Tens of thousands have also been wounded, overwhelming struggling medical facilities as the  humanitarian situation reaches horrific levels, compounded by the lack of food, water, fuel and electricity.

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