Israel's death towers: Gaza civilians killed by remote attacks during ceasefire
Less than two weeks before his daughter’s wedding, Khalil al-Masri set out with his eldest son to complete what should have been one of the family's happiest final preparations: paying for and confirming the reservation of the wedding dress she had chosen at a shop in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood.
With the reservation confirmed, the two stopped at a nearby sweet shop to celebrate, where they met two friends. As they sat together at a table outside the shop, a live bullet pierced Masri’s head, leaving him unconscious as his son and friends watched in horror.
The 43-year-old father of seven was rushed to the al-Shifa Hospital, but he succumbed to his wounds the following day, on 14 June.
“It was a complete shock. He was very happy and laughing with his friends. He ordered a dessert, but the bullet penetrated his head before the order was served,” Masri’s brother, Mahmoud, told Middle East Eye.
“The wedding was turned into a funeral.”
The incident, captured by a surveillance camera at the entrance to the shop, is not an isolated case.
Although the source of the fire remains unidentified, it occurred amid an escalating pattern of Israeli fire targeting Palestinian civilians across different areas of the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.
Read more: Gaza civilians killed by remote attacks during ceasefire
Palestinian women mourn loved ones killed in an Israeli air strike, prior to being taken for burial from the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, on 18 June 2026 (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)