(BBC News-UK) Alice Cuddy - On Oct. 19, Gaza dentist Mahmoud Shaheen, 40, received a phone call: "I'm speaking with you from Israeli intelligence," said the caller. Mahmoud said, "He told me he wanted to bomb three towers...and ordered me to evacuate the surrounding area." Mahmoud's tower was not directly under threat - but he was suddenly responsible for evacuating hundreds of people. He screamed until his throat hurt for people to run away and led a mass evacuation of his neighbors - then watched his neighborhood explode in front of his eyes. People around Mahmoud warned that the call may be fake. Mahmoud asked the voice on the phone to fire a warning shot to prove this was real. A warning shot seemingly from nowhere, but perhaps from a drone, hit one of the apartment blocks under threat. "I asked him to shoot another warning shot before you bomb," Mahmoud says. One more rang out. Mahmoud asked the man to be patient. The man replied he would give Mahmoud time - he said he did not want anyone to die. Mahmoud asked, "Why do you want to bomb?" "He said, 'There are some things that we see that you don't see.'" Thanks to Mahmoud's efforts, it is believed that none of his neighbors died that day.
2023-11-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive