ON THE night of December 19 2023, Israeli military forces surrounded the al-Awda building in Gaza City’s al-Remal neighbourhood. Four families were inside the building, including the Annan family, after whom the building is popularly known as the “Annan Building.” 

The al-Remal area, along the Gaza coastline, was a middle-class area of apartment buildings. During the early days of the war, the Israelis cruelly bombed this residential area, turning this residential quarter into rubble. 

Some buildings — such as the Annan Building — remained intact and had become shelters for extended families. Israeli forces raided the building, separated the men from the women and children and then shot to death about 15 of the men. According to the United Nations, the Israeli military then “allegedly ordered the women and children into a room, and either shot at them or threw a grenade into the room, reportedly seriously injuring some of them, including an infant and a child.”