American Teacher in Gaza Recounts Injury in Deir al-Balah Bombing
(AWP) - An American teacher whose house was struck in an Israeli raid on Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, last week, said she would not leave the Strip where she spent years teaching English and called on U.S. President Joe Biden to work on stopping the war.
Deborah, who adopted the name ‘Hoda’ when she converted to Islam a few years ago, recalled that earlier on Wednesday, before her house had come under attack, she had felt the bombing was “a little bit heavy,” prompting her to cancel her third class later that evening.
The teacher, whose legs were injured in the bombing raid, said she had already finished two full classes of students from Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and al-Borej when Israeli rockets hit her house after the night prayers.
Deborah, who has also taught in schools in Egypt, said, “I heard something because I looked up and I saw the ceiling falling on me. I saw it fall. And when it was falling, I felt my body falling to the next floor, to the floor under me.”
She added, “As a surprise, a very good friend of mine, Manal, told me that everyone in the world saw my video. I saw myself under the cement … one hour under this big slab of cement and I could move nothing.”
Deborah urged U.S. President Joe Biden to take action to stop the war which has been ongoing for over 5 months and has so far killed nearly 32,000 people and injured 74,000 others.