13 November

During a funeral, sad moments when 18 civilans were killed at once

Palestinian children, Rima Athamneh , 1, and Ala Athamneh , 1, were killed by the Israeli tank shells in gaza togather with most of their family

Palestinian woman walking by a wall riddled with bullets and tank shells in Beit Hanoun

Mosque demolished by the Israeli bullodozers

“How long will Israel be allowed to continue to kill our women, children and old men inside their houses, villages and camps? How long should we continue to be slaughtered while the world watches?” asked Ms. Al Atamneh, one of the survivors of a family recently killed by Israeli Occupation Forces. Through a veil of tears, she then showed the damage to her house caused by Israeli tank shells. “Where is the world, God? Why are we getting killed? My little nephew, Amjad, while sleeping, was killed by the Israelis right here,” she said crying and pointing to where his bed was.

“The child was simply sleeping, possibly having a nice dream. But he never woke up. Neither were ambulance workers allowed to reach him even if there was any hope of saving him. Amjad’s arm was missing. No one could find it.”

Amjad’s younger sister was murdered by Israeli soldiers using rockets as well. Unites States made and paid tank shells splattered her little body all over the house. Her brains were all over her bed. Fingers, arms, legs and pieces of human flesh were all over the place.

"No one can believe the image—I tried to help, but I was also injured in my leg, but everyone is dead by the tank shells which hit all the child and every body, even my mother who's 70 years old woman, a woman who lived peacefully and have nothing to do with the army, she got killed, she did nothing, nothing, nothing, but she got killed by the Israeli tank shell" she added.

Even the animals, cows and goats were killed by the attack when the Israeli bulldozers demolished a small animal farm of the family. The Israeli soldiers also destroyed the van of her father which cost 11 Jordanian Deinar. She said even that would be fine as long as our children and we survive.

"I can believe it, my own mother who raise me, there was a moment where I was not able to see even look at her before she got buried" the young woman said crying. She was obviously angry. " It's not only the tanks shells, but also the drone planes which hit our house from all over see here, look here and there and see our lives—see the wholes and the damaged furniture, look at the blood in the walls, see even the Palestinian flag is a witness on the crimes"

She continued talking with a tone of anger and stress. What really angered her is the fact that the Israelis knew there were children in the house. “It was one day when the soldiers were inside our home and they imposed siege on us, they didn’t let us go out and they kept telling us to shut up or they were going to shoot us. The soldiers purposely kept scaring the children by pointing their weapons at them. The children were not even allowed to go to the bathroom while the soldiers were there.” Holding a Palestinian flag in her hands she said, “This is the reason we are being killed, we are Palestinians. The soldiers are angry because we have the flag of our country.” The Israeli soldiers told her they did not want Palestinians to live. While crying, she put the bullet-ridden Palestinian flag back on the wall saying, “But Israel who kills innocents will not kill the spirit of the Palestinians who remain alive. Shame on America which provides Israel with weapons. Shame on America for remaining silent while their Israeli allies murder innocent civilians and commit crimes against humanity. She then prepared to go to another one of many funerals in occupied Palestine.

This boy is Mawia Youseif, a child whose house was attacked by IDF soldiers and occupied for about 4 days. After the Israeli soldiers withdrew from his house, he found fragments of this rocket and, as you see, I took a picture of him while playing with it —



.....

When visitors of the Rafah refugee Camp saw the camp, they thought that it was struck with an earthquake.









It seems international officials hadn't heard about Rafah. They haven't heard about those children who were seeking water day and night at a time that the Israeli bulldozers and tanks had been demolishing their water stations.



When they took their tour in the area after the partial withdrawal of the IDF, which has been attacking Rafah these past three weeks, they discovered that it's the Israeli Army which has demolished houses, demolished trees, demolished agricultural houses, demolished water stations, demolished electricity stations, cut the phone lines, killed about seventeen people and injured over one hundred twenty-four, most of them were seriously.

Peter Hansen, UNRWA spokesman, was the only person who visited the area and took a tour between the rubble of the houses after the withdrawal from Yebana Refugee Camp. When he saw these crimes he described them by saying: "We have very very significant damage to the refugee camp."



Many people are still unaccounted for and it is not known whether they were demolished together with their houses or were arrested by Israeli soldiers.

Feeling the plight of the people is something easy while walking in the camps which has all turned into rubble.

I interviewed an old woman sitting in one of the tents at sunset and she had her hand on her face. Her name is Um Ali Redwan, a 65 year old woman who has 33 members to her house which had consisted of three floors.



When I asked her about what was wrong, she answered me by saying:

"Thinking! Thinking of this time when I was yesterday with my family living in our house and now I am sitting in this tent which is not protecting me from the cold weather.

This time we lost everything. Children lost their clothes, I lost all my furniture, and all things turned to rubble. In the meantime, everyone is watching us.

My sons and their children have all become homeless, and me and my old husband who is ill also."

The tears began to fall down her cheeks and she said:

"The occupation didn’t respect this white hair...Israeli bulldozer drivers did not respect my old age and my old man's age. How I will be after this?"

Um Ali Radwan, 65 years old, has become homeless.



Tent. This word has become really famous now, spoken about by all the children in Rafah Refugee Camp.

The people go to the moon nowadays while the families in Rafah are still sleeping on the ground even sometimes without beds, just under this white sheet that is called a tent.

They had been living in their homes, but now Israeli bulldozers are partially withdrawing from the area leaving a large numbers of homeless families, and many paralyzed innocent children.

The IDF attacked Hai Al Salam area in Rafah with a very large number of tanks and bulldozers.

They demolished many houses and shot many people.

In addition they arrested four people with their father in the same area.

The Apaches are circling the Rafah sky all the time, shelling homes. This operation will be the same as they did in Yebna camps.

The number of demolished homes is 40.

Also, thousands of people have gathered in a very large demonstration under the Israeli Apache in solidarity with the families whose homes have been demolished in Rafah.

They are asking the relief foundations to help the homeless families...

But no response from any one.

It was the worst 72 hours in our lives.

They withdraw a few meters from Yebna camp, and the people went to see their homes there. The people went to their homes thinking that they still have some. Many families arrived at their homess and found rubble mixed with their damaged furniture.

The result of the attack was 150 houses were completely demolished. Another 70 homess were partially demolished.

Thousands of trees were demolished.

Eight people killed, and another ninety-six were injured.

Most of the injured people are children and eighteen are women — four of whom are pregnant.

Over 420 families can’t live in their homes because of the attack that isn't yet over, according IDF's announcements to the media.

This morning they demolished two houses in Tal Zourb area.

I met one of the homeless families and asked the woman about that. She was in tears and said:

"I've been living here for 40 years and I never came across a day like this in those forty years. They demolished our houses with our furniture. May God damage all the ones who share in demolishing houses."

Now the families are living in tents under this very changing cold weather, waiting for relief organizations to bring them food and water.

And the question is:

Who will help these damaged homeless families and bring them water, food, and clothes — especially in a time that they have lost all things in their homes?

What is the reason that the Israelis have demolished this large number of houses in 72 hours?

These are some of the questions that many journalists are asking relief organizations.

Over the past three days, the shelling, shooting, bombing, and killing did not stop. Neither did the demolishing of many trees in addition to blocking the roads which forced the citizens to pay a high price for taxis and transportation.

It took many hours to wait at check points. Students had to wait more than 5 hours to cross a few meters from the checkpoints which were full of guns, cannons, and many other soldiers.

Yesterday there was shelling and shooting in block J, block O, and Tal Al Sultan near Rafah beach. The IDF arrested a Palestinian from Rafah near the border line in the airport area.

Today, 1st September is the first day for schools. Children did not buy school supplies or new clothes for their new school year.

The soldiers shot towards the children while they were going to their schools. Most of the injured people in Rafah are students, injured while on their way to their schools.

Also, this morning there was shelling and shooting everywhere in all Rafah Camps.

The people who are living on the border line left their houses because of the massive shelling. There were also intermittent blackouts, lack of water supplies, and many other environmental problems.

The IDF soldiers believe that holding a camera is the same as holding weapons. They shot at every one who carried a camera. It has become very hard to take pictures.

The agricultural areas in Palestine are now dead, being attacked since the beginning of this Intifada. Many people cannot enter their fields even if they enter after risking their lives, the IDF will not allow them to get their goods and sell them, although nowadays it is the only job for the farmers after dividing Gaza Strip into three areas.

This picture is the Salah el-Dein Gate —



It was taken from one of the corners since no one has been allowed
in this area for the past three years.

In the early morning, many who were getting support from relief organizations gathered and demonstrated in Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza. Those demonstrations were not organized, but all the families were asking the international organization not to stop supporting the poor families in the refugee camps..



The demonstrations are because the IDF had been killing people and because the PA closed all the relief organizations even the internationals.

Many people have been jailed in the checkpoints.. They divided Gaza into three areas.

The new US Apache is now in the Rafah sky.

Today in Rafah three people will be buried, as they were killed yesterday. With sorrow and sadness, thousands of Palestinians in Rafah and Gaza carry the bodies of the killed people during a funeral procession..



No one slept last night. No one. It is very hard because of the shelling and shooting everywhere.

The body of 21 year old Wahed al Hums —



Wahed was an engineering student and was also a writer in newspapers, books, and on the internet about the plight of his people.

His mother didn’t sleep yesterday from the shelling, and weeping.

His father is one of the first people in UNRWA who worked as an ambulance driver since the UNRWA was founded in Palestine.

No one believes what is happening.

This week, attendants of summer camps near Rafah city visited the damaged sites of Rafah, to see the damaged airport and all destroyed houses.

Last week, the Mawasi checkpoint (road from Rafah to the beach) was opened only for 1 hour, and then closed again — nobody knows the reason for this.

Also last week, the IDF demolished olives trees in various districts of Rafah, such as Tal Al Sultan, and Block J, and they also removed the rubble of the demolished houses.



Internationals still cannot enter the Gaza Strip, because they are still not allowed to cross the Erez checkpoint.

Another problem is that thousands of university graduates and workers are unable to find any jobs. Even people with very high education, graduated at international universities with outstanding results, in most cases cannot find any jobs — not even as an unskilled workers.

Poverty now is the most common problem, many families who were victims of the IDF when their houses were demolished, received three hundred dollars from the UNRWA, which is not enough to rent a house for more than three months.

Children asking to release their fathers/brothers from imprisonment —

In Rafah, more than 200 children went with peace flags to the Mawasi checkpoint which is situated on the road from Rafah to the beach.

They asked to open this checkpoint so the people from Rafah can go to the beach, but the soldiers forced them to leave the area with rude words and refused to open the checkpoint.

Still, every day people suffer from shootings and tank movements in Rafah — the sound of it makes the children afraid.

Also, some agricultural plots were demolished.

People in Rafah are still suffering from the electricity problem, as most of the times there is no electricity, and water is the worst problem also, as well as mosquitos and the non-working sewage system.

It seems the media all over the world report that the IDF has left the Gaza strip, but unfortunately for us in Rafah and many surrounding places, this is not true.

Here, nothing has changed at all.

The shootings continue. They continue with the iron wall. Most checkpoints are still closed.

Sometimes they remove 4 cement blocks of a roadblock and put them immediately on another site to make another roadblock, and many places are closed and blocked, so there is no freedom at all.



And no solution at all for all the many homeless families.

Every day in the last week there were IDF attacks in Rafah, today they killed a 30 year old woman, and yesterday I saw a woman who was shot in her eyes!

The IDF demolished many houses in all the places in Rafah, and they demolished hundreds of olives trees in Rafah.



This morning, the IDF attacked Khan Younis City — they demolished many houses and many people were injured.

People have to sleep at the checkpoints because most of them are closed for long times.

In Beit Hanoun, people are still under curfew for more than a month now.

Yesterday, the IDF demolished 5 more houses in Rafah. In the Tal Zoroob area, they attacked with about 20 tanks and 5 bulldozers.

The IDF damaged the electricity stations and power lines — and when the workers come to fix it, they shoot at them, every night, so electricity is a big problem, as well as water supply.

Many people were injured, many of them children.

There is no day without shooting in Block O, Block J, Hay Al Salam, Al Brasel, the airport, Tal Zoroub, and Tal Al Sultan.

Today's photos say more then my words could say....
This is our daily life in Rafah.

The killings and demolitions go on in Rafah, every day and every night. It does not stop.

Since yesterday, another 10 houses demolished and 4 people injured, while in Gaza many people were shot.

Shoe and milk bottle of a killed baby child —

In the past 3 days the attacks and clashes continued. Many people were injured and the tanks continued to attack us — life has become hell in Rafah.

There were attacks at the Block O area, many houses demolished.



The people in Beit Hanoun are under curfew for more than a week, the IDF damaged all the places, many houses, there is no electricity and clean water in the area.

Many people were killed and injured. This area is completely closed, and it’s hard for people to go out and buy food.

The water supply is still very limited, not enough water in many parts of Rafah.

Another attack yesterday in the area of Block O, 10 houses were demolished, and many people were injured.



It was a very bad night, shelling and shooting and many crimes... as they demolished the houses IN THE NIGHT, while people were sleeping, so it was immoral, very bad. People were running out of their houses and children were crying and asking for shelter, and crying ... TANKS!!

And nobody takes care of these homeless people.

As a result of that, today thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against the IDF crimes in Rafah, and against the crimes that the IDF did in the last night against people while they were sleeping and in a time which is called the Road Map time.

While the media report about the roadmap plan and peace negotiations, for the people in Rafah there is no improvement at all. The shootings, shellings and house demolitions go on as usual, day and night.

Now the IDF has a new policy: they do not level the houses completely to the ground any more, but partially destroy them.



This way, they cannot be reported as completely demolished, but are unsuitable to be used as an accomodation any more, and people continue to get homeless this way or have to live in partially ruined buildings.

Also, the IDF demolished the water sewage system.



When building the iron wall, they left the small white building (see photo) containing critical and expensive components of the water sewage system, sponsored by the European Union... but now, they damaged the components, and this causes lots of problems for the people, there is a lack of water...

And there is another pest right now, lots of insects like mosquitos plague the people in Rafah, nobody can sleep.

Now there are massive shootings again, many people are injured, in the Tal Al Sulat area, Block J and and other places in Rafah...

Children from Rafah and Beit Hanoun, this week.





Many crimes were committed...