Mourning ritual in Gaza for Al-Rawdah martyrs

CAIRO – 26 November 2017: The National Powers in the Gaza Strip held a mourning ritual on Sunday at the Unknown Soldier's Square, Gaza city, for expressing their condolences to the 305 martyrs of the recent Al-Rawdah incident.

Nearly 305 worshipers were killed when unidentified militants attacked a crowded mosque during Friday prayers in the North Sinai, whichincluded 30 children; it took nearly 5 hours to bury them intheir final resting place.

Journalists who participated in the mourning raised signs denouncing the terrorist attack as well as photos of the Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas abou-Mazen.

In a statement given by the Palestinian News Agency, Chairman of the Palestinian Syndicate of Journalists Tahseen el-Astal condemned the massacre, underscoring that “Palestine is standing side by side with Egypt and its people in facing terrorism and anyone tries to affect the Egyptian National security.”

El-Astal called on Arab peoples, especially intellectuals and journalists, to confront terrorism targeting Arab nations through clarifying the danger of extremist thought and its impact on Islam religion.

According to eyewitnesses, the 30 terrorists initially arrived riding all-terrain vehicles, which they ditched 150 meters away from the mosque. They triggered anexplosionin the vicinity of the mosque, and opened fire onthe worshippers inside and outside the holy house. The attackers gunned down the trapped worshipers in a horrific 20 minutes massacre. They also targeted ambulances at the crime scene and set nearby cars ablaze.

In a strong and serious condemnation to the attack, President Sisi spoke to the public on Friday, vowing to respond with “brute force against that small band of extremist terrorists.”