Parents and siblings of UK woman killed in Gaza attack

Fatma Aljaja's parents Noura Abu Hassira (left) and Ghanem Taufeek were killed when rockets struck their apartment in Gaza City

Twelve relatives of a UK woman, including her parents and four siblings, have been killed in an Israeli rocket attack in Gaza.

Fatma Aljaja's nephew and nieces, brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law also died when rockets hit their apartment in Gaza City.

Ms Aljaja, who left Gaza 10 years ago and now lives in Staffordshire, said the pain of losing them was "like something you can't describe".

Rockets struck the home on 8 November.

Her mother Noura Abu Hassira, 65, and father Ghanem Taufeek, 75, had decided not to evacuate south from their apartment, about a quarter of a mile from the Al-Shifa Hospital, because they felt there was no safe passage, she said.

Thousands have been trapped at Gaza's largest hospital by nearby battles between Israeli forces and Hamas miltants.

Israel says Hamas fighters have operated in tunnels underneath the hospital, a claim denied by the group, which the UK government considers a terrorist organisation.

Ms Aljaja's nieces were killed when rockets hit apartments

Fatma Aljaja lives with her husband Mohammed Sheraz in Staffordshire

Gaza-born Ms Aljaja lives with her husband Mohammed Sheraz in Burton-upon-Trent.

They learnt of their deaths when a relative called them.

"It was eight o'clock on a Monday morning [and you] don't expect that phone call," said Mr Sheraz.

"She was shaking next to me asking 'who? who?'

"I think it took me 30 seconds to a minute to let it out but obviously Fatma was completely in bits at that stage."

The couple heard family members in Gaza spent the best part of three days digging the bodies out by hand.

"We are trying to stay strong but the burn is inside. You feel the burn inside you. I don't think this will go," Ms Aljaja said.

"Nobody will feel it until you lose your whole family in one second.

"It's something you can't describe. Some kind of pain you can't describe."

Fatma Aljaja said her parents, four siblings, nephew and nieces had all been killed

She said she believed the apartment had been targeted deliberately because of her brother Mohammed's aid and journalism work.

The only member of the family to survive the rocket strikes was a niece, three-year-old Hannah, who was pulled from the rubble alive.

She was treated for burns and other injuries but it is not clear what has happened to her since.

Mr Sheraz said they had heard she was being cared for by her grandparents somewhere in the north of Gaza.

"Miraculously she survived that carnage… [but] she has lost everything," he said.