Pleas of surviving relatives: Her husband, Mohammad al-Hadidi, made a heart-wrenching public statement after the attack. He described how his children had been full of joy during Eid, dressing in new clothes and playing with their toys before asking to spend the night at their uncle’s home. He recalled sleeping alone that night, only to awaken to the sound of bombs and discover that his wife and four of his five children had been killed. With tears, he said: “I hurried over as fast as I could, but when I got there the home was rubble, and rescue workers were pulling out bodies. My wife and four of my children were among the dead. Only my baby Omar survived.” His plea, widely reported by international media, came to symbolize the suffering of Palestinian families caught in the bombardment.

Pleas of surviving relatives: Wife: She accepted the formal apology at his grave but clearly stated: “I accept the apology, but I will never forgive.” She expressed enduring pain and anger over the wrongful prosecution and the suffering it caused her husband. Eldest Son: He acknowledged the apology as a step forward but demanded a reinvestigation and reconsideration of disciplinary actions against those responsible, emphasizing that systemic reform was necessary. Family Lawyer (Tsuyoshi Takada): Representing the family, he stressed that the injustice was not the fault of a single judge, but rather a systemic problem in Japan’s “hostage justice” system that requires broad reform to prevent future victims.

Pleas of surviving relatives: His wife, Lurzan Abu Aziz (28), who married him in July 2024, spoke with deep grief after his killing. She found his body after the Nasser Hospital strike and described how much he had supported her education and dreams. Lurzan shared that Ahmed always encouraged her to continue her PhD in law, while he himself was pursuing a PhD in media. They had dreamed of defending their dissertations side by side in 2025. She said: “His dream was for us to earn our doctorates together. He always urged me to defend my dissertation no matter what, and he encouraged me endlessly. We were supposed to defend our theses together this year, but he left and I am alone, grieving his loss.” Colleagues at Middle East Eye also honored him as “the journalist who never stopped,” echoing the family’s grief with pleas for accountability and for greater protection of journalists in Gaza.

Pleas of surviving relatives: His family joined broader appeals from the Foreign Press Association and media outlets demanding international leaders to step in, saying: “Too many journalists in Gaza have been killed by Israel without justification. This must be a watershed moment. We appeal to international leaders: Do everything you can to protect our colleagues. We cannot do it ourselves.”

Pleas of surviving relatives: Osama’s father, Mohammad Subhi al-Hadidi, became a heartbreaking symbol of loss after the massacre. In interviews, he pleaded with the world not to look away from his family’s suffering. Standing over the coffins of his wife and four children, he cried: “What did they do wrong? What was their crime?” He begged the international community to stop treating Palestinian lives as expendable, saying that children like Osama were being killed simply for being born in Gaza. Holding his only surviving son, a 5-month-old baby, he said that his entire world had been taken away, and he now had to raise this infant alone with the unbearable grief of losing his wife and other children.