Arab town in Israel weeps for four family members killed in Iranian strike

By Alexander Cornwell

TAMRA, Israel (Reuters) -When a phone alert sounded on Saturday night to warn of Iranian missiles flying towards his town of Tamra in northern Israel, Nidal Abu Al Heija called his sister to tell her to take shelter with her daughters, but no one answered.

After the alert, he rushed to the area where she lived. The street was full of people and littered with debris.

"I was asking people what happened, and someone, he just said to me 'oh, Nidal'. He didn't know what to say. And then the other one says, 'it's your own sister's house'," Abu Al Heija said, speaking to Reuters four days after the strike.

The house had taken a direct hit. Part of the roof had collapsed, crushing the top floor. Windows and walls were blasted out and rubble tumbled down the side of the house.

"Darkness, dust, smell of bomb, something I don't want to remember," said Abu Al Heija.

"I was just going there shouting 'Noura! Noura! Shada! Hala!' And then unfortunately I saw her coming, people holding her, with no breath."

Known to her family as Noura, Manar Abu Al Heija Katib, 45, and two of her daughters, Shada, 20, and Hala, 13, were killed, along with Manar's sister-in-law, Manar Diab Katib, 41.

The only survivors were Manar Abu Al Heija Katib's husband, Raja Katib, and their third daughter, Razan.

The dead were among those killed in the conflict with Iran since Israel launched air and missile attacks on Iran a week ago that have wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of Iranians.

Iran has aimed hundreds of retaliatory missiles at Israel and killed at least two dozen people.

'BURNING FIRE INSIDE'

In Tamra, a small Arab town about 25 km (16 miles) east of the port city of Haifa, relatives and the wider community are in shock.

"If I would have gone (died) with my wife and my two girls, it would have been easier because I have a burning fire inside," Manar's husband told reporters on Wednesday.

The sisters-in-law were both teachers. Their husbands, Raja Katib and his brother Ihab Katib, have described them to local media as wonderful women. Pictures of the two daughters showed them smiling warmly.

Nidal Abu Al Heija recalled telling people previously that the chances of being killed in the war with Iran were tiny. Now he said he was dealing with an unfathomable loss.

"Noura was the thing that we loved. Noura was the thing that united the family," he said.

The four had run to a protected room on the top level of the house, he said, but it could not withstand the Iranian missile.

Tamra has been hit by rockets before, but smaller ones fired by militant group Hezbollah from southern Lebanon.

Residents said that those who could afford it had protected rooms inside their homes, and there were a few public shelters, but not as many as in Jewish neighbourhoods. Arab citizens make up about 20% of Israel's population, and often complain of unequal treatment compared with the Jewish majority.

Since Saturday's strike, many residents of Tamra have begun spending the night in public shelters inside schools.

On Tuesday, four simple wooden coffins with wreaths of red and white flowers were carried through the narrow streets of Tamra, with crowds of men chanting as they walked alongside and people watching from every window and doorstep.

At the town's cemetery, Muslim prayers rang out from a loudspeaker and a large number of men, mostly dressed in black, surrounded the gravediggers and relatives as the four were laid to rest.

Afterwards, a group of women and girls paid their respects by the graves. They wept and embraced each other as they walked away.

(Writing by Estelle ShirbonEditing by Frances Kerry)