October 1, 2003:
Mohammed's younger brother
Issam was seriously injured
and was taken to the hospital
about a week ago. His leg
was amputated and he is
undergoing medical treatment.

October 18, 2003:
Mohammad's younger brother,
Hussam [17 yrs old], was killed
by the Israeli army today.

Hussam was sitting at home
when he was shot in the face,
chest, back, legs. He had
nothing to do with any violent
or even political movement.

Hussam's crime is that he was
a Palestinian.

— The Webmaster

22 January 05

Last Sunday in Rafah, a simple shopping trip to the outdoor market turned dangerous. Umm Samier, 42, was in the open-air souk to get two kilos of tomatoes for her family, but she never brought them home. Israeli gunfire erupted, sending shoppers and farmers scattering for any shelter they could find. The alleged provocation for the Israeli army opening fire on the weekly market came a group of Palestinian children who somehow got through enough of the razed no-man's-land near the Gaza/Egypt border to plant two Palestinian flags on the Palestinian side of the 30-foot-high iron wall. When two of the group approached the door of the Israeli army sniper tower, gunmen inside shot them dead at once, claiming they were militants. Palestinian witnesses say otherwise. Many others were injured, and the gunfire spilled into the Sunday market. It took many hours for the ambulances to reach the injured and dead. Many questions have been raised about the absence of the Red Cross who are supposed to help local medical workers transport the dead and injured to Rafah's Al Najjar Hospital.  

Random shelling throughout Rafah is now a nightly occurrence. It is dangerous to show a ligh t or venture outside after dusk. There will be no respite, very likely, over the two-day hol iday of Eid Al Adha.  

Not for the first time, Israel completely sealed every crossing into the Gaza Strip, halting even deliveries of food and medicine. With the collapse of the Gazan economy during the last four years of intifada, and the massive destruction of farmland, more and more people in Gaza are dependent on imported food. Foreign journalists and humanitarian workers are, for now, unable to enter Gaza, despite growing shortages.  

The most desperate situation, however, is in southern Gaza at Rafah Terminal Crossing, completely closed since December 12. With rare exceptions, Palestinians may not travel through Israel, so this Gaza/Egypt border crossing is the only way most Palestinians can travel abroad. Would be travelers, many of them sick people trying to reach foreign countries for specialized treatment unavailable in Gaza are accumulating in Rafah. Since internal closures within Gaza have become extremely frequent, and the re have been shooting incidents with the Israeli soldiers opening fire on people waiting to go through the checkpoints, many cannot return to their homes elsewhere in Gaza. Umm Sami, a woman of 39, said "My visa for the United Arab Emirates has expired while I've waited here. I changed my departure date with the airline four times, and still lost my visa. That is my suffering, that is my life here. What can I do? Israel is the reason for all these obstacles and troubles."  

A few meters away from Umm Sami, a woman holding her small child was even more upset. "I am trying to travel abroad so my child can have surgery. My child is dying, my child will undoubtedly die without this surgery. All I want to do is get him the surgery he needs to save his life. Why don't the Israelis look at this, at our children? They should look at what's happening here to our children! We appeal to decent people everywhere—where are you? We are as human as you are! Can't you see what's happening to the children?"  

Israel says, of course, that the border is closed "for security reasons." One wonders how letting a desperately sick child leave the Gaza Strip could be a security threat to anyone or anything. The people waiting o n the Rafah side a re still better off tha n many of the estimated 7000 Palestinians stranded in Egypt between Cairo and Gaza. Some have found accommodation in border towns; others who went through Egyptian exit procedures hoping the border would re-open quickly cannot re-enter Egypt and are enduring serious hardship. Many now have been stranded outdoors for weeks, without food, sufficient toilets, or shelter from the winter. There are no showers, there aren't even blankets available for them. By now, many have run out of money and are surviving on supplies brought in by the Egyptian Red Crescent.  

With the feast of Eid Al Adha fast approaching, many have appealed to Israel to reopen the Rafah border so they can spend the holiday with their families. Israel has refused. With the end of the hajj approaching, the Egyptian authorities estimate another 2000 Palest inians who made the pilgrimage to Mecca will try to return to Gaza and be stranded in Egypt.  

These privations take their worst toll on the sick people trying to return home to Gaza after medical treatment, forced to camp out in conditions in which even healthy people become ill. Eyewitnesses have reported that to date, seven sick people have died on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. Their families asked to repatriate their bodies for burial at home in keepin g with Islamic and Palestinian traditions, but Israel refused. Their families were forced to find graves for them in Egypt.  

This morning, a 13 years old boy Salam Abu Al Eaish was killed near the Salah El Deen street in Rafah. the killing of the child came in the first day of Al Adha feast, and in aday when the Israeli president Sharon congratulates the new president Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qorie on Eid Al Adha.  

16 January 05

When death gets closer, mothers start lamenting

Few days after the Palestinians elections: The Israeli Occupation Forces continued invading many parts of Gaza Strip, where many tens of people were injured and killed since the Sunday’s election.

This morning in Khnayouies, the Israeli Army shelled one of the UNRWA schools, as eyewitnesses mentioned that the Israeli Army shelled Al Kahldia UNRWA school, as the shellin g came from Navi Dekalim Jews settlement, no casualties in people reported.

Also, the Israeli Army closed the main road of Abu Holi checkpoint, where thousands of people had to wait for several hours in the very chilly nights. Two people were arrested at Abu Holi checkpoint, the people are Hamza Adwan, and FathiMusleh.

In the same brackets, eyewitnesses said that the soldiers had turned one of the flour factories near the checkpoint into militant posts targeting people and residents in the area.

This morning also, tens of tanks and bulldozers are invading Al Burij Refugee Camp, where , six people arrested, two were injured and the operation is still ongoing under heavy gun fire by apaches helicopters and tanks, in addition to demolishing many agriculture plots.

Yesterday, the Israeli Occupation Forces invaded Al Sheikh Ejleen area in the Gaza City, where they five people were arrested.

The Gaza Strip is still under very difficult situations, and the Palestinian Authorit y haven’t got any kind of negotiations.

14 January 05

Mahmoud Abbas( ABU Mazen)

An election staff member in Rafah is making stamps with
inkon the fingers of people who voted

Elections st aff in one of the polling stations at "A" Prep. school for girls

Inger Sandberg, an International Observer for Norwegian
People's Aid is observing the elections in Rafah

In the eyes of the world, Palestine's January 9th presidential election, won by Yasser Arafat's long-time associate and former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas, changed the public face of Palestine. Once symbolized by the black-and-white barbed wire design of Arafat's omnipresent kuffiya, now the business suits and ties of Mahmoud Abbas and his colleagues have suddenly come to symbolize a "new Palestine." Western reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, hailing the exercise of democracy despite the strictures of decades of military occupation and four years of intifada.

For the population of the West Bank and Gaza, this is baffling. They have endured decades of the Occupation, tasted all kinds of oppression and injustice, and felt themselves invisible in the world community. They ran a presidential election in 1996, hailed by international observers as fair and honest, in which they elected the late Yasser Arafat as the first president of the Palestinian Authority. By the beginning of the intifada, however, the US and Israeli administrations had branded Arafat a terrorist, and US President Bush and other high officials in his administration pointedly snubbed him. Now, however, the symbols of democracy and the appearance of Palestine's chief executiv e seem to be more to the US's taste, and the US President has already invited Mah moud Abbas to the White House.

Abbas, who is PLO Chairman and head of the Fatah Party, received 62.32 percent of the votes cast, 483,039, far ahead of his nearest rival Dr.Mustapha Al Barghouti, who ran as an independent and won 12.8 percent , 153,516 votes, according to head of the central elections commission, Hana

Nasser. Five other candidates also ran but none of them polled more than 3.5 percent of the votes.

On the security level, the Israeli Occupation Forces killed A 61 years old man Mahmoud Al Farra by two bullets in his Nick and his head. Al Farra is a victim of the Israeli announcement that there that the checkpoint and roads would be open for 72 hours during the election period .

Sunday's election also witn essed shelling of Palestinian areas by the Israeli Occuaption. In one instance, the Israeli Occupation opened fired with machine guns at the Tarek Ben Ziad school polling center in Khanyouies Refugee Camp, Voters had to run from the polling center seeking shelter. In Rafah also two children were injured during the election process, In which most Palestinian schools were turned into voting centers.

Also, this morning Ma'ariv Israeli newspaper, reported that the IDF has requested government permission to destroy 3,000 more house s in Rafah "for security reasons." It seems a dismal continuation of old patterns: Israel issues a set of demands to the Palestinians, while delivering its daily dose of death and destruction to the civilians of Gaza and the West Bank. If the strategy of demolishing 3.000 houses would happen, that means erasing Rafah and all the southern Gaza Strip by a new tragedy for a new homeless families added to the large numbers of houses that were already demolished in the same time, while the world is watching!

8 January 05

Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazin]

Dr. Mustapha Al Barhgouti, the Palestinian candidate

School girls

Little Isra Abu Shaluof (3) is the latest civilian fatality here in Rafah. She died during the ongoing shelling of civilian neighborhoods near the Gaza/Egypt border that has been relentless. Many children have been killed in the past few days in Rafah Refugee Camp.The most recent funeral was for Rezk Musleh (14), who died while placing a poster of the Palestinia n candidate Dr. Mustapha Al Barhgouti. Mahmoud Al Arja (21) received several seriousabdominal wounds during yesterday's shelling targeting civilian houses in the Hay Al Salam neighborhood. Dr. Ali Mussa, the director of Abu Yousif Al Najjar hospital here in Rafah reported that AlArja's wounds were so severe that stopping the bleeding was extremely difficult. He was transferred to the better-equipped Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where, despite emergency surgery, he died after afew days. Khanyounis itself is still under a very heavy incursion as well, and in this recent round ofattacks, 11 people have been killed and 30 injuredin less than 24 hours.

Injured during shelling

Although Operation Orange I ron"officially" ended after three days, these nextround of ongoing incursions called Violet Iron arecreating heavy casualties. All of Gaza's main roads are now completely closedas they have been for days now, and ambulances trying to move the injured to better facilities endureextreme delays. On the other hand, Mahmoud Abbas, (Abu Mazen) and Dr. Mustapha Al Barhgouti visited Rafah Refugee Camp, during their el ection campaign. In the past few days, tens of people were injured and many were killed in Rafah, despite of Israel announcement of opening the roads one day before and after the Palestinians elections.

Two hours ago, Abdelkader Jaber, 6 years old boy gets serially injured in his backbone while he was inside his house, during the recent shelling targeted the civilians houses of people.

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