Tag: Haneen al Badran

Jan 18: At the Samouni house

Sharon Lock | ISM Volunteer

The planes are still buzzing overhead, but there have been no explosions near me today. However this supposed ceasefire from Israeli’s side since 2am does not seem to have extended to Beit Hanoun, where there was shelling this morning and F16s were attacking.

You can see 4 video clips I took during the attacks on the Al Quds hospital and local people, including my medic mates rescuing Jasmeen after she’d seen her sister and dad shot.

This morning the Al Quds Red Crescent headed out to Zaytoun, to the area we had a few approved evacuations and far more refused ones. Local people had begun excavating the rubble of the Sammouni house. You remember we heard some of their story before. I helped correct the English of some of the testimonies from the survivors that the Red Crescent was collecting. One of the more vivid images was one of the trapped and injured children describing the only food being tomatoes covered in the blood of his family, and having to sleep on their corpses amidst the rubble for 3 days. My nurse friend R at the hospital said treating one of the children that they got out to Al Quds was the first time she couldn’t help but cry. He was begging her for food and water which she had to deny him until his injuries were assessed.

Anyway, today we arrived in the devastated Zaytoun area, where medics, friends and family began to remove the bodies of the Samounis from a hole in the roof of their flattened home. During the hour we were there, they brought up a body every ten minutes, 7 total, and I believe locals brought up at least two more after the Red Cross told us to take those we had to Al Shifa and withdraw, as a further army incursion threatened. A relative was clutching a list of 25 names of the dead.

Meanwhile, THANK YOU Brighton and friends for the direct action on EDO weapons manufacturers – see a series of short clips on Youtube and Wikio.

ITT/EDO MBM arms factory in Moulescombe, Brighton which supplies Israel has been wrecked by activists campaigning against war. Swords into waste skips at least. Prior to entering the factory, the activists made a video (attached) in which they explained their reasons for the action. One commented: “Israel are committing a gross crime now in Gaza. Israel have killed hundreds of children…

Nine year old girl, shot twice by Israeli snipers as her family sought refuge in Al-Quds hospital, has died

Haneen al-Badran, a nine year old girl who was shot in the face and abdomen by Israeli snipers as her family ran to the AL-Quds hospital in Tel al-Hawa, died at 5pm on January 16th.

The shooting of the al Badran family

The Al Batran Family from Tel Al Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City fled terrified from their homes and attempted to take refuge in Al Quds hospital on Between noon And 1:00PM January 15th, 2009. Israeli snipers stationed directly outside the hospital opened fire on the family. Nine year old Haneen Al Badran was shot through the face and in the abdomen. The father, 54 year old Fadel Al Badran, was shot in the thigh and fell to the ground. 12-year-old Jasmeen, can be seen in the videos above frozen in terror, being carried into the hospital by a medic who ran into the line of fire to retrieve her, and being treated by doctors in the hospital afterward.

Haneen al Badran died of her wounds in Al Shifa hospital at 5pm on January 16th.

The shelling and evacuation of Al Quds hospital
Al-Quds hospital was shelled repeatedly in the early morning and several wings destroyed. At approximately 11:00 PM a wing close to the wards was shelled and caught fire. The patients were all evacuated and transferred to Al- Shifa hospital and a nearby Red Crescent facility despite severe overcrowding.

The first floor of the burnt hospital is still being used as an ambulance depot for the Red Crescent. Doctors hope to have the hospital running on Monday despite fears of further shelling.

Quotes from residents of Tel al-Hawa

They were killing any person they could see in the street. They shot at my next-door neighbor. From the area around here, there are around 25 martyrs. They are still looking for missing people. They shelled a complete part of the hospital. The streets and infrastructure are completely destroyed. The building across the street is still burning, and it was a pharmacy depot. The people fled to seek refuge in Al Quds hospital 200 meters from here. Some of the ambulances were destroyed. I saw with my own eyes the burning, the smoke. This is savagery. I don’t think anyone in his life has ever witnessed such brutality and horror.

– Dr. Assad, Tel al-Hawa

We were in our house in Tel al-Hawa. The Israelis were shelling all around. We were really scared being under fire and not being able to do anything about it. None of the people in our building are resisting, we are all civilians. Our neighbors in the building next to us were injured from the shelling. The Red Cross made arrangements for us to leave but we couldn’t take any of our possessions, not even our identification cards. We left wearing only our pajamas. Outside, a man and his daughter were shot by Israeli Forces, and we were praying not to be shot as well. We stayed an hour in the hospital basement before moving on to the nearest UNWRA School. We walked a long distance, we couldn’t sleep, and some of the people were badly injured. Now we live with relatives. Everything we have is in that house but we can not go back there.

– Tel al-Hawa resident

Quotes from Medical staff and volunteers

The patients from Al Quds hospital were evacuated under white flags. Two or three patients were put in the same bed, and the beds were wheeled across the street for 500 meters or more. Those evacuated included numbered around 40 patients. Three newborn babies were evacuated in their incubators and at least four patients were in critical condition. We evacuated because of a fire which started on the second floor of the building and began to spread. The patients and staff were ready to die from the fire or die from shooting. Hospital medics are now cleaning the hospital, which sustained heavy damage from the attack, in the hopes that we can make it operational again by Monday.

– Dr. Waleed Ramadan

After around 600 people had gone to Al-Quds hospital, they then had to leave again. They thought they had found somewhere safe, but nowhere is safe here. I am accompanying ambulances working out of the first floor of what remains of Al Quds hospital. Since the same locations are often targeted repeatedly, we all fear that the hospital will again come under attack.

– Sharon Lock, an Australian volunteer who participated in the evacuation of the Batran family and the evacuation of the Al Quds hospital