There is an Aid worker in Gaza that is writing an online journal that the BBC is publishing. He writes:
I was coming home after visiting a friend at 1130 on Saturday, when I heard the horrific sound of three huge explosions. Then a series of explosions rocked Gaza City. I live in the centre near a number of police buildings which were targeted first.
As I rushed home, I saw the main Gaza police station had been destroyed. Suddenly, another missile hit it again and, along with dozens of people nearby, I ran away. When I got home I found almost all the glass from the windows and doors was shattered due to the explosions.
I ran to the Shifa hospital to check on casualties and was shocked by the number of cars and ambulances bringing in the injured. There was panic everywhere.
In less than half an hour, the hospital was full of casualties. There was no space for more, yet the casualties kept coming. At the hospital I saw something I have never seen before - dead bodies outside on the floor. Everyone in Gaza has a relative or a friend killed or injured after these attacks.
Islamic Relief is working hard to get medical aid to the hospitals, which desperately need disposable equipment. We spoke to the committee at the Shifa Hospital to find out what's needed. We are now supplying it with syringes, sponges, surgical gloves and other such equipment.
Hospitals are so overwhelmed that they are now using normal beds for intensive care patients. Everything is so desperate. Only 50% of the ambulances are working. If the attacks go on for another week the doctors are going to have to start using old and traditional ways of treating the injured - that means no anaesthetic. We have to get new supplies in!
For two years, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been witnessing daily crises over shortages of food, fuel, health services in addition to severe poverty and unemployment. We have seen the closure of crossings and the banning of patients from travelling for medical treatment.
All these restrictions have slowly sucked the life out of Gazans and it's no exaggeration when I say that trying to live daily life is a struggle. But Gaza has not witnessed anything like this onslaught since 1967.
I used to describe what was going on in Gaza as a catastrophe, now I have no words. I received news that the brother of one of my work colleagues has been killed in the attacks. They had been looking for him all day and discovered him under the ruins of a destroyed building.
That was written on December 27, 2008. He has written fourteen entries since then and each progressively more terrifying and saddening. In the latest entry he writes: "I sometimes wonder if there will be enough space to bury the dead."
Deaths
- Palestinians: 925
- Palestinian Civilians: 485
- Israelis: 13
- Israeli Civilians: 4
Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008–2009_Israel–Gaza_conflict#Casualties) and it's citations.
How to Help
Actually I'm not sure if anyone can actually help the Palestinians, the world is watching a very public massacre unfold by one of the most powerful and well armed militaries in the world against a group of people who hardly have a military at all, yet it is not stopping it. However, one might be able to help suffering people by donating to a civilian aid via a highly rated charity such as Islamic Relief USA at http://www.irw.org/campaigns/palestinecrisis08 .I don't know a whole lot about Islamic Relief USA, but they appear to be very reputable with five consecutive years of being a 4-Star Rated Charity by Charity Navigator. Their is also an extensive wikipedia article on the organization at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Relief which doesn't state anything bad.
