The mother of a Palestinian man, Abdel-Karim Abu Jalhoum, who died in T rkiye on February 8, 2023, mourns at the family house in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. Abdel-Karim Abu Jalhoum fled Gaza for safety in T rkiye when he fled to war and poverty a few years ago.
On Monday, the massive earthquake that devastated parts of T rkiye and Syria killed him and his entire family.
The Palestinian foreign ministry said that Abu Jalhoum, his wife Fatima and their four children were among 70 Palestinians who had been found dead. The death toll in the quake has gone beyond 11,000.
My brother went to T rkiye to try and find a better life away from wars and blockades here in Gaza, Abu Jalhoum's brother, Ramzy, 43, told Reuters as relatives and neighbors trickled into the family's house in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday to pay respects.
We lost the family. An entire family was wiped off the civil registration record, he said.
Abu Jalhoum had worked as a taxi driver in Gaza but struggled to support a growing family and left for T rkiye in 2010. He worked in a wood factory in Antakya and Fatima and their children joined him once he was established.
In Antakya, life was promising for the 50-year-old father, 33-year-old Fatima and their children, Noura, 16, Bara, 11, Kenzi, 9 and Mohammad, their 3 year-old who was born in T rkiye. They moved to a new apartment six months ago, according to the family.
A relative of a Palestinian man, Abdel-Karim Abu Jalhoum, who died in T rkiye on February 8, 2023, shows his picture on a phone at the family house in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. The extended family tried to make contact with anyone who could offer any information in the hours after the tremors. On Tuesday, they recognized their family in a photo showing them buried under the rubble, lifeless.
Abu Jalhoum is seen embracing his children, seemingly trying to protect them with his own body as their home collapsed on them.
There are no exact figures as to how many Palestinians live in T rkiye, but many, especially from Gaza, have moved to T rkiye in recent years, fleeing a densely populated territory that has seen frequent wars that have left the economy in ruins.
The UN relief agency UNRWA estimates that around 438,000 Palestinian refugees live in Syria.
The Palestinian Authority, which has a limited rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said it had sent a rescue mission to the impacted areas.
Abu Jalhoum's mother, Wedad, prayed their bodies could be returned home for burial at the family house in Beit Lahiya.
I haven't seen my son, nor his children for 12 years, the weeping mother said, dressed in black and surrounded by neighbors.
I want my children, I want to see them and bid them farewell.