A bereaved husband and father is making a plea for peace in the region

(18 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tamra, Israel – 18 June 2025
1. Wide of the Khatib’s destroyed house
2. Various of damaged sofas and other furniture inside the house
3. Various of the bereaved husband and father, Raja Khatib, shaking hands with people came to offer condolences
4. Man hugging Khatib through tears
5. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Raja Khatib, bereaved husband and father:
"I entered the house, between the first and second floors on the stairs. I heard a huge, big bomb. Then, it became completely dark and dusty. I entered between the ruins of my house, and suddenly Razan, my 16-year-old daughter, came out, she’s in eighth grade. In complete shock, her hair was full of dust. She was terrified and in shock. I asked her if she was okay and where her mother and two sisters were. She told me they couldn’t come down from the top floor and they were sleeping. I said to her, “What? I tried to go up to the third floor, the top floor, but everything was destroyed."
6. Khatib playing video on his phone of his oldest daughter Shada, 20, one of those killed
7. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Raja Khatib, bereaved husband and father:
"I called them by their names. I called them to say something. To say something. I shouted like that for 5 to 6 minutes, I didn’t hear an answer from them, nothing, it was a shock. I’m alone in the rubble, it’s very difficult."
8. Khatib showing photo on his phone of the four women who were killed
9. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Raja Khatib, bereaved husband and father:
"Now, after four days, after everything in the house was destroyed. We have a cat named Rita. The neighbors found her. Maybe she (the cat) flew from the impact, maybe she was outside. Now, they’re recovering the remains, she was (my daughter’s) cat."
10. Khatib showing photo on his phone of a post by the surviving daughter Razan who published a post showing her pictures with deceased family members, her mother and two sisters. Text reading (Arabic) "I never in my life expected that a day would come when I would write a post like this, I never expected that I would lose the three of you."
11. Various of Khatib talking to Jewish citizens of Israel
12. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Raja Khatib, the bereaved husband and father:
"People came to offer condolences from all over the country, from the north to the south. This is a blow to our country, we have a common future, we need to understand that we have a common destiny, so let’s end all the wars, let’s end the war in Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon and in Iran and live in peace."
13. Various of destruction of house and vehicles
STORYLINE:
A Palestinian citizen of Israel whose wife and two daughters were killed in an Iranian missile strike is making a plea for peace in the region.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Raja Khatib said his tragedy showed Jews and Arabs had a shared destiny on the land.

"We have a common future, we need to understand that we have a common destiny," said Khatib, whose home in the Arab city of Tamra was struck overnight Saturday into Sunday.

"So let’s end all the wars, let’s end the war in Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon and in Iran and live in peace."

Khatib described a scene of devastation in his home the night of the strike.

"I heard a huge, big bomb. Then, it became completely dark and dusty," Khatib said.

He tried to reach to the top floor where his loved ones were killed, "but everything was destroyed."

Khatib’s sister-in-law was also killed in the strike.

Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past.

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