Author: ISM Media Group

Civilian houses and medical centres targeted by Israeli air-strikes

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have been ongoing through the night, with civilian houses and medical centres being targeted by Israeli air-strikes.

International Human Rights Workers are continuing to witness and document the escalating devastation. Two houses that internationals were staying in last night (night of 27th December), suffered almost direct hits from Israeli missiles, one in Rafah and one in Jabaliya.

“I was woken by an incredibly loud explosion that felt like it was on top of us. We ran for the door, but the blast had welded it shut. The windows had been blown in so we crawled out through them. As we came on to the street, everyone was out. The medical centre next-door had been hit. Medical equipment was strewn over the road. Equipment here is so low anyway due to the Israeli siege, to see it wasted on the street was heartbreaking” Jenny Linnel (Britain) International Solidarity Movement speaking from Rafah.

“At the house where I am staying, the neigbours have just received a call to evacuate their house immediately. That it is being targeted. People do not know what to do”. Jenny Linnel (ISM)

Last night thousands of Palestinian residents of Gaza were subjected to calls from the Israeli Ministry of Defence saying that “any house that has guns or weapons will be targeted next without further warning or any announcement”

Two international Human Rights Workers stayed with the family of Sara Aid Hawajereh, the 55 year old mother killed yesterday by an Israeli missile in Jabaliya.

“We were in the basement with the rest of the family. We heard an extremely loud explosion and the house began to shake. Each mother grabbed their children to them. The missile had landed just outside in the garden. We were lucky” – Sharon Lock (Australian) International Solidarity Movement speaking from Jabaliya

Several medical and pharmaceutical centres treating civilians were hit by Israeli missiles throughout the night, including Al-Shifa hospital and the pharmacy in Hi Alijnina, Rafah.

A mosque was also hit last night, killing four civilians. The total amount of people now killed by Israel over the last 24 hours now stands at at least 282.

Israel targets pharmacy in Rafah

Sunday 28th December, 2008


Video by ISM Gaza Strip

Shortly before 7:00am local time, yet another Israeli missile strike hit the residential neighbourhood of Hi Alijnina in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

This time a pharmacy was targeted, totally destroying the building and causing severe damage to surrounding homes. Electricity lines were torn down during the blast and the street was littered with medicines. This footage was filmed within minutes of the attack as fire fighters battled to control the blaze. Shocked residents poured into the streets, some still wearing pyjamas.

Video of the devastation in Gaza


Video by ISM Gaza Strip

27th December 2008 – A massive Israeli military operation began throughout the Gaza Strip today. Multiple Israeli air strikes hit many different areas this morning and continued sporadically throughout the day. The destruction was widespread. At the time of writing over 200 people have been killed with the death toll still rising. Hundreds of people have been injured, many severely.

These images were filmed shortly after one of the bombings in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. They show the devastation at the site of a police station in the Hi Alijnina neighbourhood which was hit at approximately 11:30am local time. There were also missile strikes in the Tel Al Sultan, Moraj and Mashrua districts of Rafah. This assault occurred during the busy weekly market in Rafah and as school sessions were ending, so the streets were crowded and full of children.

Some of the walking wounded were interviewed at the Al Najar Hospital in Rafah. This basic local facility was massively overstretched, the atmosphere chaotic. Serious cases were transferred to the European Hospital in Khan Younis. Hospital mortuaries could not cope with the level of fatalities, many of which were described as arrving in pieces.

Ni’lin holds two consecutive demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall

December 26, 2008

On Friday 26th December, around 250 protesters turned out for the Friday prayer demonstration against the Apartheid wall in Ni´lin. There was a large international and Israeli presence there in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The prayer started around noon followed by a march towards the construction site. The protesters were met by a barrage of tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets from the Israeli army who were waiting for the demonstration. The scattered the protesters who were split into two main groups, one who remained in the field and the other who moved to the checkpoint at the entrance of the town.

Many people suffered from tear gas inhalation with many also hit by rubber-coated steel bullets. There was a highly increased amount of teargas fired, most of which were aimed directly at the bodies of the protesters. Since mid-November the army also has been using an extension which can fire multiple round plastic covered steel bullets. Luckily no one was severely injured.

The demonstration continued until five o´clock.

The townspeople have been protesting on a regular basis since May 2008 against the construction of the Apartheid wall, which will annex another 40% of Ni’lin’s land accumulating a loss of around 85% of its land since 1948. Two children have been killed and hundreds of others have been injured by teargas, sound grenades and rubber coated steel bullets. 31 people are currently imprisoned, six of them are children, and many of them without legitimate charges.

Ni’lin – Thursday 25th of December

About 40 protesters vigilantly march down to the road to the construction site of the wall in monsoon like rain. After about 15 minutes soldiers arrived and started to shoot tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. The army came close to the town and shot tear gas at the nearby houses.

The demonstration started around noon and ended at three o´clock. Two people were hit by rubber coated steel bullet, one of them in the head who required two stitches. Many others where asphyxiated by tear gas.

The Observer: ‘It was like an earthquake on top of your head. My son was terrified. I held him to my chest’

Eyewitness report by Dr Eyad Al Serraj

To view original report, published by The Observer on the 28th December, click here

The bombing went on for about 10 minutes. It was like an earthquake on top of your head. The windows were shaking and squeaking. My ten-year-old son was terrified; he was jumping from one place to another trying to hide. I held him tight to my chest and tried to reassure him. My 12-year-old was panicking and began laughing hysterically – it’s not normal. I held her hand and calmed her and told her she would be safe. My wife was panicking. She was also running around the apartment looking for somewhere to hide.

We live on the ground floor so we headed to the basement.

Not very far from our home are the headquarters of the police and there was a massive bomb. The chief of the police was killed. Two streets away there was another bomb and more people were killed. The office of the president is about a kilometre from our house and it was also bombed.

We went downstairs to the basement and tried to hide ourselves from the shelling. The child of one of our relatives, who lives in our building, finally came home from school. We hadn’t been able to find her. All the phone connections were jammed. She came home and she was in a very serious state of shock. She was pale and trembling and she was describing dead bodies in the streets. On her way home she passed Hamas people in uniform and they were dead.

I had been very apprehensive when I woke up this morning. I had some bread, some cheese and a glass of tea. Like all the people in Gaza I felt that something was going on and something very serious. When Israel allowed the delivery of food and fuel I said to myself and my friends that Israel is really planning a massive strike. They don’t want to be blamed for starving the people.

I was sitting in the living-room with my family trying to figure out what to do today for lunch – it’s our main meal. What to cook and how to cook, whether we have enough to eat. There was no rice so I wanted to have lentil soup and my wife said, ‘No, there’s no lentils in the market’. I said, ‘What else can we do?’ She said ‘I bought some cans of food’. We were discussing this when suddenly the whole thing erupted. Suddenly there was a big explosion.

Right now I feel very anxious about what’s going to happen. I’m worried about how many more people are going to die.

• Dr Eyad Al Serraj is a psychologist in Gaza city