First parents, now friend, Gaza girl mourns deaths caused by Israeli troops

The last time Bissam Dhaher was with her parents was in 2014.

She was 7-years-old when her home in the Shujaiya district in the blockaded Gaza was hit by Israeli rocket fire, killing her immediate relatives including her parents.

"When the house was bombed, we were sitting. Suddenly, we saw a red line that terrified us. When rescuers asked who was in the house, my brother's wife, Shimaa, cried 'help help! We're alive'," she said. 

"I told them please bring me cold water to drink. I was trapped under the rubble for six hours."

Her story of survival and loss was covered by a local journalist Yasser Murtaja, who also helped in her rescue and was there during her recovery.

Dhaher, now 11, received another blow this year when Israeli snippers shot dead her friend Murtaja, during the six-week Gaza protests.

TRT World's  Sarah Balter explains the loss that remains a constant reality for Gaza's survivors. 

Right of return protests

Home to around two million Palestinians, more than half of them war refugees and their descendent, Gaza has suffered severe poverty and infrastructure collapses under a 12-year blockade by Israel and Egypt.

Since March 30, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been protesting along the fence with Israel against the blockade and occupation of their lands their families were expelled from seven decades ago.

In response, Israel has killed over 130 Palestinians and wounded thousands.