The call came on Mahmud Shahin's mobile phone at 6:30 in the morning. That day, October 19, marked the 12th day of continued Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Mahmud's home is in Al-Zahra area in the northern part of the valley. The Israeli forces have not yet launched an attack in that area.
That morning, Mahmud heard a lot of noise outside the house. People were shouting. A man on the street said to Mahmud, 'You have to run away. They will bomb residential buildings.' Hearing this, when Mahmud started moving towards a safe place, his phone rang.
The phone call came from an unknown number. According to Mahmud, it was the scariest phone call of his life. Someone on the other end of the phone said, 'I'm calling you from the Israeli intelligence agency.' The two talked for more than an hour.
The man, who identified himself as a member of the intelligence agency, gave his name as Abu Khaled. He spoke in perfect Arabic. Mahmud said, 'That person said they want to bomb three buildings. We have to move out of the surrounding areas. The building where Mahmoud lives was not at risk of attack. However, he had to take the responsibility of moving the local people safely as per the instructions received on the phone.
40-year-old Mahmud is a dentist. He asks the person on the other end of the phone not to hang up. The two continued to talk. According to Mahmud, he does not know why he was chosen for the job. But he did his best to protect people. Later he saw his area destroyed by Israeli bombs.
Mahmud initially thought the phone call was fake. Many people around said the same thing. After the start of the Israeli attack, there were rumors of such fake phone calls on Facebook.
Hamas, the armed group of the Palestinian independence movement, attacked Israel on October 7. More than 1 thousand 400 people were killed in it. Since that day, the Israeli forces have been bombarding Gaza indiscriminately. Ground operations are also underway. 10,569 people have died in Gaza so far. Most are women and children. 26 thousand 475 people were injured in the attack.
Before carrying out an attack on a place in Gaza, the Israeli forces sometimes warn residents through phone calls. Mahmud is one of the people who received such calls. The matter has been confirmed by the BBC. Many residents of Al-Zahra area said that Mahmoud received a call from Israeli forces on October 19. But the BBC can confirm what was discussed in that phone call.
'We see things you don't,'
Mahmoud thought at first, thinking the phone call was fake. Many people around said the same thing. After the start of the Israeli attack, there were rumors of such fake phone calls on Facebook. Mahmud asked the person on the other end of the phone to drop the bomb to prove whether the warning was true or not. Within moments, the bomb hit.
Mahmud realized that the phone call was true. "Don't betray us by dropping bombs while evacuating people," he told the man over the phone. Mahmud was assured that this would not be done. Later, Mahmud asked why the attack was being carried out in their area. 'We see things you don't, was the reply.
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