Palestinians inspect the different rooms of a bombed house after an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza: photo by Said Khatib/AFP via The Guardian, 9 January 2009
I learnt all the words and broke them up To make a single word: Homeland
Mahmoud Darwish: I Come From There
A ball of fire is seen following an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip: photo by Said Khatib/AFP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014
A View from Gaza: This Is a Brutal Attack, Not a "Military Operation" (8 July)
Gaza City under Israeli attack: photo by Dr. Mona El-Farra, 8 July 2014
This series of reports from ground zero in Gaza City was posted to Common Dreams on 8/9/11 July 2014 by Dr. Mona El-Farra, Director of Gaza Projects for the Middle East Children's Alliance. Dr. El-Farra is a physician by training and a human rights and women’s rights activist by practice in the occupied Gaza Strip. She was born in Khan Younis, Gaza and has dedicated herself to developing community based programs that aim to improve health quality and link health services with cultural and recreation services all over the Gaza Strip. Dr. El-Farra is also the Health Chair of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip and a member of the Union of Health Work Committees. Dr. El-Farra has a son and two daughters.
In Gaza last night, while Israeli army forces launched military attacks against Gaza, by sea, air and via artillery shells, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children were unable to sleep inside their tin-roofed homes, clinging to their parents, crying, and terrified. The shelling last night was earth shattering, and went through the entirety of the Gaza strip. At least 100 attacks have already taken place.
In Gaza, we do not have bomb shelters to escape and hide.
These bombs fall on top of our deteriorating economic situation. Unemployment because of the Israeli blockade against civilians is almost 40%. It is Ramadan, making it more difficult to get basic foods, and thousands of government employees cannot reach banks to access their salaries. I know there are internal problems between Fatah and Hamas, but the outcome is hardship, while the bombs keep dropping on top of our heads.
In Gaza, the feeling of insecurity throws its shadow against all of the population, and the military operation continues.
With threats of expansion in the coming few days, there is no news about any ceasefire.
Prior to the attack, the local authorities warned the population against swimming in the Mediterranean sea (the only recreational outlet for 1.7 million people). The sea around Gaza has become overly polluted with sewage and wastewater, that the authority, due to lack of fuel, had to pump untreated into the sea.
In Gaza, over 90% of water is unsuitable for drinking.
Through my work at the Middle East Children's Alliance, we continue to implement the water purification systems at the schools and kindergartens, to provide over 50,000 Palestinian children with clean water. Even though it is the summer holiday, the community had accessibility to our water units in schools, but the attacks make travel dangerous.
In Gaza today, imagine choosing between your child’s thirst and your child’s safety.
Also, at MECA, because of our deep understanding of the poor recreational facilities for Palestinian children, we continue our educational, entertainment and recreational activities, inside our partners’ community centres. It will be even more important during the difficult times ahead, to help the children and distract their attention from the night shelling. Let the Children Play and Heal is an ongoing program, and I fear that there will be the need for more psycho-social programming, like we did in 2009 and 2012.
While we help these children, we take care of the mothers too, via psycho-social trainings that aim to educate women about trauma, and how to deal with family and children during times of crises.
Today, different health facilities announced a need for more emergency supplies, which were already lacking because of the closure of the borders and the ongoing Israeli siege of Gaza. Just before the attacks, MECA managed to send some highly needed emergency medications to the Red Crescent Society, but more is needed.
In Gaza, MECA’s team, along with the many humanitarian and health organisations are going through a very difficult situation. We are physically unsafe, and we cannot sleep. But we work hard to support people at this very difficult time.
The streets of Gaza are empty, few cars are here and there, and Israel continues a collective punishment assassination policy demolishing homes by aerial bombardment.
These air raids fall on the majority of the population living in very crowded areas, so while they hit their targets, civilians pay a big price -- we have many causalities and the numbers are rising every hour.
In Gaza, it is not a war or a military operation though it may look so. It is collective punishment and it is a brutal attack against all Palestinian people, and mainly civilians are paying the price.
We Hug the Children As the Bombs Fall (9 July)
Israeli forces killed six children when a missile struck a residential building in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Wednesday, July 9, 2014: photo by Defense of Children International-Palestine, 9 July 2014
GAZA -– Written Between 3 am and 4 am early Wednesday morning, July 9, 2014.
The Israeli warships continue shelling... It is dark.
I do not know what is going on and I can hear successive bombing. I am thinking of all the people I know tonight, especially my colleagues at the hospitals who are working under severe pressure and lacking basic medical supplies. Stay strong.
"I do not have any comment… I leave it to you to comment."
I heard they bombed the area around the European hospital east of Khan Younis in Southern Gaza... Then the hospital was directly targeted. The hospital wall was damaged at 1 am due to the strong shelling. Then shelling continued with approximately 30 airstrikes.
When civilians took refuge at the hospital, they targeted it again.
The roof of the intensive care unit was damaged and the windows were blown out. Now at around 3 am, six patients inside the intensive care unit and 20 children inside the pediatric ward have had to be evacuated.
At the hospital, two injuries were reported, including one nurse.
I do not have any comment… I leave it to you to comment. For me, this is nothing new. This is normal behavior of the Israeli army.
Human rights violations against health centers and workers have always been the case when Israel invades.
On a personal level, I am thinking of all people, especially my cousins, who took refuge in the hospital.
At 4:15 am, there were explosions very close to my apartment. The Gaza port was just hit with at one least bomb. Nobody in Palestine is asleep tonight.
Oh no! It is next to my building, so loud I am on the floor with neighbors and children, who are so terrified and shocked.
Shattered windows terrify the children... These are vicious attacks... We are all on the floor.
An hour later, we hug each other while the children cling to adults... The bombs are so close.
Now, after a few minutes, I distract the neighbors' kids by showing some nice drawings sent with love and solidarity from Canada and Australia. The children laugh. I say, at this moment life is stronger than death. One day justice will prevail.
The Attacks Are Coming from Every Direction (11 July)
View from the author's window in Gaza City: photo by Dr. Mona El-Farra, 9 July 2014
GAZA –- Written on Friday, July 11, 2014 after the fourth full day of bombing.
Where shall I start? How shall I start?
Shall I start with the numbers which keep increasing and changing? 90 people killed, mainly civilians. 600 injured. 140 demolished homes. Or should I start by mentioning all the different areas of the Gaza Strip that have been constantly hit, day and night. Nonstop. If it is only about numbers, then let me tell you all about thousands of Palestinian children who are terrified night after night, day after day by the sounds of the Israeli shelling. The children have deep feelings of insecurity when it is dark. And no shelters.
Yesterday a six-story building where my relatives live in Khan Younis was hit and leveled to the ground. 106 relatives were made homeless. Even if the Israeli army’s goal was to punish one of Hamas activists, there is no justification for this cruel, brutal and collective punishment. Eight members of the Kawarea family were killed in Khan Younis when the jetfighters destroyed their home. The Israeli army spokesman said sorry it was a mistake. What a gentle, well-behaved, and civilized army.
Walking through the streets of Gaza City where I live can be a real nightmare. The drones and jetfighters are in the sky and you cannot anticipate what will happen in the next minute. Are they going to target a car behind you or in front of you? Will you be caught in the blast? Will others will be dying right that minute somewhere else? Will others will be forced to leave their home in 5 minutes only to be bombed 2 minutes later?
Yet despite the fear, I had to go to the Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip to be with the medical emergency team and help as much as I could. This morning we received an injured deaf young man from Jabalia. He was working in a farm that was hit. Tens of cows and sheep were killed too.
I am so tired and sleepless. I don’t feel settled outside my home despite the generosity of my friends who are hosting me. But my building, my neighborhood, are too unsafe. Nowhere is safe but with intense shelling nearby and broken windows, I had to leave.
The shelling is continuous, crazy and everywhere. Warships fire missiles against the beach in Gaza City. Rafah town is under severe missile shelling , 10 people in Rafah were killed when their home was leveled to the ground by an American-made F16.
The UN agency that runs schools and clinics for Palestinian refugees opened its schools to receive homeless people from different areas. Now larger numbers of people will drink from MECA water purification units.
Nobody is asleep in Gaza. No place is safe. The Israeli military attacks are coming from every direction.
From Gaza with love, Mona
Palestinians carry belongings in a house after it was hit by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City: photo by Hatem Moussa/AP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014
Palestinians take cover in a street in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike: photo by Thomas Coex/AFP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014
Palestinians look at a destroyed house where five members of a family were killed in an Israeli missile strike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip: photo by Khalil Hamra/AP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014
Palestinians search the rubble of a destroyed house in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip: photo by Khalil Hamra/AP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014
A Palestinian firefighter hoses a boat hit by an Israeli missile strike at the port in Gaza City: photo by Hatem Moussa/AP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014 A ball of fire is seen following an Israeli air strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip: photo by Said Khatib/AFP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014 Black smoke rises from the scene of an Israeli air strike in Rafah. Five Palestinians, including a woman and seven-year-old child, died when a house in Rafah was hit, Gaza emergency services said: photo by Said Khatib/AFP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014
A relative of Palestinian doctor Anas Abu al-Kas mourns over his body during his funeral in the family home at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip: photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP via The Guardian, 11 July 2014
Jabalia Gaza Strip: photo by nice.robo, 24 January 2009
