i broke down yesterday and i am still having difficulty to face the horror. while i was talking to mohammad in gaza, a very very heavy campaign of shelling and airstrikes began. it was my turn to update a social media page, so i followed reports coming out of gaza, and while in the beginning, it seemed terrible – yes – but familiar, by saturday night, it was clear that something so horrible and scary was happening that it’s beyond my capacity to verbalize.
by this time, already, tens of thousands palestinians had been displaced as their homes were destroyed or they were told to evacuate (this in a place where building materials are withheld by the occupier and where housing was already scarce due to previous massive bombings such as during cast lead). journalists reported they had received more “warnings” – or threats – essentially saying they can leave, and if they decide to stay, they might get killed. this, in addition to an announcement of an expansion of the ground invasion – which until that time had not really been one, perhaps in part because hamas fighters kept them at bay and had, by then, killed at least four soldiers and injured 29.
saturday night – massive shelling and airsrikes in eastern gaza (especially sheja’iya) amd northern gaza
then… saturday night, the shelling began, indiscriminately, then airstrikes began as well. soon, there were reports of people injured and trapped in the neighborhood sheja’iya east of gaza city, reports of people injured or killed elsewhere. in so many places, i couldn’t count. and over and over again in sheja’ya, east of gaza city. reports of buildings on fire. people were getting frustrated with the red cross because they either weren’t answering their phones, or they were not sending ambulances to retrieve the injured and trapped. more reports came in of mobile phones in sheja’iya not working. of buildings shelled EVERYWHERE, especially in eastern and norther gaza, of everything shaking, electricity cuts. i lost contact to mohammad and others.
here is video of shelling/airstrikes on eastern gaza saturday night, i only found it on fb
map circulating saturday night of places getting shelled in gaza
i went to sleep at one point with nightmares. and when i woke up, the emerging truth.
yesterday: rescue workers, ambulances, and red cross still not allowed to reach targetted areas
yesterday, it became clear that saturday night was a massacre beyond words although the scope of the massacre and horrors only emerged slowly as people were still unable to reach the injured and dead due to continuous airstrikes. only now, we know that 72 were killed in sheja’iya alone. beit hanoun was also heavily shelled and those who could fled yesterday. at least 263 homes were destroyed, 33 of which were completely leveled, at least 100 educational facilities such as kindergardens, schools, and universities were damaged or destroyed. among those killed were paramedic fuad jaber and photojournalist khaled hamid, both murdered doing their work (another war crime). ten members of the siam family were killed when their home was bombed. they are just examples. we learned that firefighters and ambulances, including from the red cross had NOT BEEN ALLOWED to reach the wounded,the trapped, the burning houses, because the army declared the targetted areas in eastern gaza “closed military zones”. in total, saturday alone, “Israeli forces launched 756 raids on the Gaza Strip including 156 from the air, 210 from the sea, and 390 artillery shells.“
yesterday, during the day, ambulances were still getting fired at if they tried to reach the areas. at one point, the red cross demanded a three-hour humantiarian ceasefire to evacuate the wounded and dead bodies, israel initially refused, then agreed to a ceasefire from 1.30-3.30 pm. less than an hour into the humanitarian ceasefire, they resumed the attacks. (pictures on fb here and a compilation of pictures on fb here)
photo by mohammad abed, afp
evacuation of a body in sheja’iya yesteday. photo: thomas coex, afp
photo: joe catron
young man executed in front of internationals while searching for his family during humanitarian ceasefire
during the humanitarian ceasefire, internationals from ism went to shija’iya to help evacuate people of they could. they were wearing fluroscent wests. in sheja’iya, they met a young men, about 20 years old, who was searching for his family. they joined him in his search. the young man was walking quickly, frantic for his family, and a little ahead of the group. as soon as they reached an opening, a sniper shot at them. the second shot hit the young mean (wearing green on the photo) and he fell. a thirs shot hit him, a fourth missed him. the internatonals witnessed this, the young man was just in front of them, but they didn’t dare go out and help him, feeling certain that they too would be killed if they dared. as you can see in the pictures, there can be NO MISTAKING any of them as a threat, it was an execution. another one. read more here.
international activists from ism accompanying a young man (green t-shirt) in sheja’iya during the humanitarian ceasefire. the young man was looking for his family.. photo: joe catron
thousands displaced, many seeking shelter in front of al shifa hospital in gaza city
those who survived the massacre in sheja’iya and could get out, ran towards gaza city yesterday,many wearing only their pyjamas. UN shelters are already overcrowded, many peope, like mohammad’s family, are staying with family or friends in gaza city. yesterday, many from sheja’iya thought refuge in front of al shifa hospital in gaza city. by now, 135,000 palestinians are displaced by this ongoing onslaught,
survivors from al sheja’iya ran to al shifa hospital for shelter yesterday. families sitting in front of the hospital hoping for safety.
survivors from al sheja’iya ran to al shifa hospital for shelter yesterday. families sitting in front of the hospital hoping for safety.
video of people trying to escape sheja’iya amid ongoing attacks yesterday (graphic)
continued attacks through yesterday night
last night, residents of bein hanoun reported that they received sms telling them to leave because they will attack “with an iron fist”. my friend received a message that said “you’ve never seen something like this before”, as an intimidation and twisted warning of yet more attacks. and indeed, heavy shelling and air strikes continued throughout last night. this morning, rescue workers were again digging out people out of the rubble, this time about 20 people in khan younis. just as anne was telling me that she was going back to sheja’iya, al jazeera tweeted that hospitals are reporting the use white phosphorus in the area (as i wrote last week, the zionists had decided to not use white phosphorus because “it doesn’t photograph well”. i guess they don’t care how their ongoing massacres look at this point, which is scary.)
the hamas military wing al qassam announced yesterday that they captured a zionist soldier. the UN immediately called in an emergency meeting over the capture (they are very slow when it comes to meeting and deciding regarding murder, injury and displacement of so many palestinians). the zionists still have not confirmed the capture.
this morning, the gaza ministry of health reports 508 death since the beginning of this military onslaught, over 3150 injured. among those killed last night, nine were members of the syam family in rafah, including a 12 year old, an 8 year old, and a baby. 13 occupation soldiers were killed in total and two israeli civilians, one of which a bedouin (the bedouins and the palestinian citizens of “israel” don’t get warning sirens or bomb shelters to protect them from qassam rockets.)
according to this euromid graph, 170,000 palestinian were displaced in the past 13 days, 52000 of whom due to the direct destruction of their homes in bombings/shellings. according to the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, 84,000 palestinians are seeking shelter in overcrowded UN schools. this is significantly higher than the number of people displaced during cast lead. as food, water, mattresses, clothing and urgently needed building/repair materials are becoming scares, the occupation radio has reportedly announced there will be no pause in the military campaign before the muslim holidary of al fitr at the end of july (i can’t find a source for this). people are saying this is already worse in many aspects to the horrors of cast lead.
during all of this, obama AGAIN expressed his “full support” for israel, a day after the senate had voted 100-1 on a rhetorical resolution that also expressed absolute support the zionists.
personal stuff
i broke down yesterday. i couldn’t do anything, the place i live in looks like shit, i can’t communicate with people here, i can’t socialize and yesterday, i couldn’t blog or update a page i’m supposed to be updating together with two friends. when i don’t feel paralyzed, i’m crying. there are encouring news all the time of people taking to the streets, of people divesting, bds growing, of actions. i try to take solace from that, but right now, where i am, i don’t feel the strength that we have. i wished we would stop this NOW. but since we aren’t, i wished i was in palestine. as i write this, there are more airstrikes, more reports of dead, of people trying to pull bodies and perhaps survivors out of rubble…