'He wanted to help animals': Israel kills Gaza veterinarian after the ceasefire

Normally, Moaz Abo Rokba waited a few days after a ceasefire in Gaza before returning home to inspect the damage.

But when a truce was announced earlier this month to end the war, the Palestinian veterinarian could not wait.

He immediately travelled back to Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip to see what had become of his neighbourhood.

His brother, Abdelrahman Abo Rokba, tried calling several times to make sure he had arrived safely, but the phone network was down. Much of northern Gaza’s infrastructure had been destroyed during Israel’s two-year genocidal war. 

The next morning, as the family prepared breakfast in their shelter in southern Gaza, Abdelrahman received a phone call from his cousin, Iyad Abo Rokba. 

“He asked if we had heard from Moaz,” Abdelrahman told Middle East Eye. 

“Then he told us that witnesses had seen him killed after an Israeli air strike in Jabalia.”

Read more: 'He wanted to help animals': Israel kills Gaza veterinarian after the ceasefire