Tag: Buffer Zone

Palestinian farmer injured by Israeli army fire

17th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Friday afternoon, June 14, 2013, Muhareb Abu Omar, a Palestinian farmer aged 48, was wounded by Israeli army fire in the Deir El Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip.

Omar was irrigating his land in the village of Wadi As-Salqa, 600 meters from the barrier that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Muhareb Abu Omar, 48 (Photo: Rosa Schiano)
Muhareb Abu Omar, 48 (Photo: Rosa Schiano)

Omar reported that Israeli jeeps moved along the border while he was working. Suddenly, after about 10 minutes into the job, at approximately 19:30, a bullet struck him in the right leg. The soldiers probably shot from a jeep hummer.

Omar was alone on his land while other farmers were working in adjacent lands.

“I didn’t hear any firing, the soldiers used silent bullets. Suddenly I found myself wounded. I ran for 50 yards, then I crashed and I cried to my cousins that I was wounded”, said Omar. His cousins transported him to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital.

Omar’s family is composed of 14 members: Omar, his wife, 8 sons and 4 daughters. Five of his sons work with him on the family land. The whole family depends on the production on this land.

Two of his sons, Nedal and Tareq, reported that Omar was reported to have an intermediate wound in the right tibia.

Dr. Saleman Al Attar, Department of Orthopaedics of Aqsa Martyrs hospital, reported that the general conditions of Omar are good. “The wound shot from a firearm always creates complications. The bullet hit the right thigh and there is the presence of fragments”, said Dr. Al Attar. In the emergency room, the doctors performed a cleansing of the wound, firstly a debridement followed by bandaging. After 3 days or 72 hours, Omar will be subjected to a further removal of devitalized tissue.

The doctors will not remove the bullet. “It is dangerous to remove the bullet as it is located in the neurovascular, where there are the arteries,” said Dr. Al Attar.

The wound is closed. The patient will then be given antibiotics and analgesics for about 4 weeks.

(Photo: Rosa Schiano))
(Photo by Rosa Schiano)

Dr. Al Attar stressed the psychological effect on patients who are aware of the a bullet still inside the body. “The patient will always have the impression of experiencing pain in the area where the bullet is, even if the pain is not real. There are social workers who can provide psychological support for this. Every Palestinian suffering since birth suffers some psychological problems”, concluded Dr. Al Attar.

During the last military offensive of November 2012, the al-Aqsa hospital has received many victims. “The hospital was full, we were trying to save those who were in better condition while others were dying patients in serious condition,” said Dr. Al Attar.

The arrangements for the cease-fire of 21 November 2012 established that the Israeli military forces should “refrain from hitting residents in areas along the border” and “cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip by land, by sea and by air, including raids and targeted killings.”

However, Israeli military attacks by land and sea have followed from the day after the ceasefire, and Israeli warplanes are flying over the sky constantly in the Gaza Strip. Four civilians were killed by the end of the military offensive “Pillar of Defense” and more than 90 civilians have been wounded.

These attacks against the civilian population of Gaza continue to occur amidst international silence.

Man wounded by Israeli gunfire in the southern Gaza Strip

11th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

On the morning of Monday, 10th June, a Palestinian man was injured by Israeli army fire while working in the area of ​​Sufa, southern Gaza Strip, near the barrier with Israel.

Amer Abu Hadayed, 20 years, hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of the European hospital (Photo: Rosa Schiano)
Amer Abu Hadayed, 20 years, hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of the European hospital (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

Hadayed Abu Amer, 20, was picking up rocks and stones to be sold as building material along with his brothers Yasser and Saher. The three had gone to work at 6:00 am aboard a tuk-tuk.

An Israeli military jeep approached them so they left the area, but returned soon after to continue working. At this point the soldiers started shooting in their direction. At about 7:00am the three men, who were about 30 meters from the barrier that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip, tried to flee to avoid being hurt, but Amer was hit in the shoulder by one of the bullets.

Amer and one of his brothers fled while the third followed them with the tuk-tuk. Amer was subsequently transported to the hospital.

The three men earn 80 shekels for a day’s work, of which 15 shekels usually goes to the driver of the tuk-tuk. In practice the men earn about six euros each daily, working every day in an area of extreme danger.

Amer is still in the intensive care unit of the European hospital just south of Khan Younis. He said that the soldiers had also shot at he and his brothers two weeks previously but they had been able to escape.

Dr. Ihab Alassal reported that the bullet entered and exited the body of Amer. His condition is now stable. He reported an accumulation of blood in the pleural space, that is, the space between the lung and the chest wall. Dr. Alassal added that Amer is now under observation and being monitored for vascular access and blood pressure. He added that if his condition worsens, Amer could undergo exploratory surgery.

(Photo: Rosa Schiano)
Amer in the hospital (Photo by: Rosa Schiano)

Amer’s family consists of ten members: two parents, two daughters and six sons. One of the sons, Mahmoud, 24, works as a barber, while three male children collect stones to be sold. The rest are unemployed. They live in Khan Younis, in an area called Al Junra, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud was with one of the brothers outside the intensive care unit. He constantly repeated “I’m desperate,” talking about the harsh economic conditions prevailing in his family. He dreams of leaving Gaza, to move to Italy or elsewhere, in hope of a better future.

“We will never return to pick up stones,” said Yasser whose eyes told everything about the fear that this attack had brought about.

The siege that Israel has illegally imposed on the Gaza Strip has produced a failing economy and then on another level mass unemployment. The limited amount of construction material entering through the Karm Abu Salem crossing (Kerem Shalom) forces Palestinian companies to require people to collect stones for the construction of buildings. The majority of these stones are found near the border areas – where Palestinian buildings have been destroyed or bulldozed by the Israeli army.

The arrangements for the ceasefire of 21st November 2012 established that the Israeli military forces should “refrain from hitting residents in areas along the border” and “cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip by land, by sea and by air, including raids and targeted killings.”

However, Israeli military attacks by land and sea have followed from the day after the ceasefire, and Israeli warplanes fly constantly over the sky in the Gaza Strip. In the border areas four civilians have been killed since the end of the “Pillar of Defense” military offensive, and at least 90 civilians have been wounded.

These attacks against the civilian population of Gaza continue to occur, yet are met with silence by the international community.

You can read International Action for Palestine’s report here.

Palestinian farmer wounded by Israeli army fire

7th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Sunday morning a young Palestinian farmer was wounded by Israeli army fire in an area called Abu Safiyeh, East of Jabalia, in the Northern Gaza Strip.

The young man, Ahmad Hamdan, 21, was rushed to the hospital Kamal Odwan. We went to visit him in the hospital where we met some of his family members.

According to his uncle Eyad Hamdan, at around 6:00 am on Sunday, June 2, Ahmad was going to pick watermelons along with four or five other workers. Ahmad’s family does not own land, Ahmad is a simple worker in the fields.

That morning there were many farmers’ families, children, and bird hunters out in the fields. There were Israeli jeeps on the border and the workers had warned of gunfire but did not bother because they were far from the barrier that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Ahmad and other workers were heading to work on a wagon when the bullet hit Ahmad. He was injured before he had started work, at about 6:30 in the morning. The chariot on which he stood was about 400-500 meters from the separation barrier. The soldiers of the Israeli army probably fired from one of the towers of control, or by using a small hill behind which they often station themselves.

The cousin of Ahmad, Ammar Hamdan, 22, was with them. “When Ahmad was injured, some of them were trying to hide in order to escape from the bullets, while others were left with Ahmad and they called an ambulance. Ahmad was put in a private car and transported to an area away from danger and an ambulance arrived after 10 minutes.”

Family members told us that they used to go to work in that area 2-3 days a week to pick watermelons. “It ‘s the first time that they shot at us at that distance from the barrier. Due to the economic conditions of the family, Ahmad has to work in dangerous areas,” Eyad said.

The family of Ahmad is composed of 11 members, two parents and 9 children – 2 daughters and 7 sons. Ahmad is the largest of the children. The father did not have a steady job. His son Ahmad worked by collecting debris and other material for resale to be able to support their families. They live in Beit Hanoun, in the Northern Gaza Strip.

The bullet entered and exited from the right leg of Ahmad and provoked a femoral fracture. The doctors have placed an external fixation on the leg. Inside the leg there are bone fragments. Relatives told us that the doctors will then evaluate the condition of the muscles and nerves.

“After what we saw we did not return to work there”, said Eyad. Beside the bed of Ahmad was sitting her aunt and her tears would not stop falling.

After the visit we met Dr. Ahmad Bassam Al Masri, Head of Orthopaedics Department of the hospital Kamal Odwan. Dr. Al Masri told us that Ahmed suffered a compound fracture of the right femur. It is a third degree open fracture, which does not require neurovascular injury. The open wound measured about 10-15cm across. Dr. Al Masri told us that the doctors had placed an external fixation in the leg and that Ahmad will require a new operation in which the external fixation is removed and they will place an internal fixation and carry out a bone graft. This second operation will take place in around 2-3 weeks or a month. After surgery, rehabilitation will last from six months to a year. “The blow of a firearm delays the formation of the bones. Generally a normal fracture requires 4 months of rehabilitation,” explained Dr. Al Masri.

The agreements for the cease-fire reached after the Israeli military offensive “Pillar of Defense” on November 2012, established that the Israeli military forces should “refrain from hitting residents in areas along the border” and “cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip Gaza, by land, by sea and by air, including raids and targeted killings.” However, Israeli military attacks by land and sea have continued since the very day of the cease-fire. Since the beginning of the ceasefire there have been 4 civilians killed and more than 90 injured in the areas along the border.

In 2005, Israel unilaterally and illegally established a so-called “buffer zone” inside Palestinian territory, an area that farmers cannot access and that is reinforced by the Israeli army firing on civilians in the area. As reported by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, preventing the access of Palestinians to their land and maritime areas violates numerous provisions of international humanitarian law, including the right to work and the right to a dignified life. These attacks against the civilian population continue amidst a deafening silence from the international community.

We will continue to expose these violations until the Palestinian people are entitled to the same rights as anyone else, such that the world will one day understand the tears of the many bereaved mothers of Gaza.