"Why is Mother Here..." Paramedic Breaks Down in Tears While Moving Corpse

Mother Dies in Israeli Airstrike in Gaza Strip
Son Unaware While Body Transported... Only Learns at Hospital

As civilian casualties continue from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, a story has emerged about a paramedic who, while transporting a body, belatedly realized it was his own mother.

On October 31 (local time), the Associated Press reported the story of Samira Bardini (61), a woman who died in an Israeli attack the previous day at the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Israel conducted an airstrike on the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip that day. According to Palestinian health authorities, two men in a vehicle and Samira, who was nearby, were caught in the explosion and killed. In addition, 10 others were injured.

At the time, Abed Bardini, a paramedic and Samira’s son, responded to the scene by ambulance without knowing the situation. Abed transported the body wrapped in a blood-stained sheet for 2 kilometers in the ambulance. The body was taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Paramedic Abed Bardini (second from the left) sobbing after identifying his mother's body [Image source=Yonhap News]

Abed only realized the deceased was his mother after medical staff lifted the sheet to identify the body.

He said, “Oh my God! It’s definitely my mother. I didn’t even know the body was hers,” and broke down crying over the body.

The medical staff comforted Abed and held funeral prayers for Samira in the parking lot. Afterwards, Abed transferred his mother’s body to the ambulance for burial.

According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 43,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli retaliatory attacks, with over half being women and children. The Gaza Strip Ministry of Health reported that 102 additional deaths occurred in the past 24 hours as of that day.

An Israeli military spokesperson did not comment on the airstrike.

Since Hamas of Palestine launched a surprise attack crossing into southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 as hostages, the Israeli military has continued retaliatory attacks.