Nabil Abu Jazer, father of four

I live in Rafah with my wife and our four children, Islam, 7, Bilal, 6, Yusef, 4, and 'Alaa, 1. We live in a rented three-room house. Generally, my wife and I sleep in one room, and the children sleep in their bedroom. Because of the heat, they have been sleeping in the living room, which is nicer.

For years, we have been living in fear. In 2002, the army destroyed our house in Block O. But since the Israeli army started its sonic booms, our anxiety has grown appreciably.

On 28 June, around 9:00 P.M., the Israeli army caused sonic booms that made a very loud noise, louder than the sound of bombs exploding. The children were sleeping at the time. Islam woke up. I never saw her in such a panic. She screamed, "Mommy, the Jews are firing at us, Mommy, the Jews are hitting us…" My wife and I got up and ran to the living room. Islam grabbed my wife's dress. She hugged her leg in fear. She was shaking and was pale. Our sons cried in fear. After a few minutes passed, we heard helicopters, and Islam said in a trembling voice, "Mommy, the helicopters want to bomb us again. I am afraid," and her face went pale in fear. She told me, "Daddy, I don't want to sleep in the living room. I want to sleep with you and Mommy tonight." Of course, I agreed, and she slept with us that night.

There were more sonic booms the next morning. Yusef, the four-year old, ran to our room and threw himself onto me and said in a trembling voice, "Daddy, the Jews are firing at us. I am afraid." Islam hid under her mother's arm in fear. She pressed her body against her mother's body. I felt helpless and didn't know what to do. We took the children and went to my mother's house, which is 120 meters from our house. I told my mother what happened. She looked at Yusef's face and saw he was pale. She grabbed his head and began to recite verses from the Quran [a customary practice to eliminate fear]. Since then, we have slept at my mother's house and have not returned home. Her house has three rooms, and eight people were already living there. So now there are fourteen people, and it is very crowded. But I tell myself that I'll stay there until this crisis is resolved. I have a feeling of helplessness when I see my children terrified and scared.

Of course, this will not solve the problem because there have been sonic booms since then, and the children have been running to their grandmother and their mother in fear. The sonic booms shake the house and the windows like an earthquake. When we hear the booms, we feel as if the house is dancing. This is an insufferable reality. If you would see the children when they hear the sonic booms, you would cry. Out of fear, they pull at their mother's clothes until they almost rip them. They are unable to sleep by themselves. They can sleep only when they feel us alongside them.

Nabil Shahadeh Muhammad Abu Jazer, 26, is a father of four and a resident of Rafah. His testimony was given to Zaki Kahil, at the witness's home on 5 July 2006.