Palestinians inspecting a bridge destroyed by Israeli army warplanes on a main road in the northern Gaza Strip. Infrastructure such as bridges and a power plant have been targeted by Israel. (Wesam Saleh, Maan Images) View more photos.

As Israel continues its military invasion of the Gaza Strip, eight residents of Gaza describe the situation in their own words. To interview Palestinian experts in the U.S. and Gaza contact the IMEU at 510-451-2600 or info@imeu.net.

Lama Hourani, Coordinator of the Palestinian Working Women Society for Development. She wrote this on July 23.

Read the B'Tselem report on the incident described below here.

"Mommy, they don't like the trees," said Rana (10). Her sister, Unoud (8) replied. "They don't like anything green."

This conversation took place a few days ago, very early in the morning, when the two girls with 11 other children and 10 adults were stuck in the grandmother's house, watching the Caterpillar bulldozers dig up the land surrounding it, uprooting the trees. The house is a three-story one, built in the middle of a very nice, green city in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Beit Hanoun. The family is not a refugee family. The house belongs to the mother, Um Qassem, the divorced daughter, Azza, and the eldest son, Qassem (who is now with his family in Egypt).

Azza is a very beautiful, strong woman who was active in the first Intifada. After the Palestinian Authority was founded she became primarily a women's rights activist. She decided to separate from her husband and after a few years she could obtain the custody of her children (two girls and two boys) and, from her savings and with the help of her brothers, she could build a floor in her mother's house.

That night, Azza and the wives of her brothers and cousins decided to separate, the women and children staying in Azza's house, and the men in the uncle's house nearby. At 6 o'clock in the morning everyone awakened to the sounds of the bulldozers and the guns.

All of the women and children were frightened, seeing that the soldiers had surrounded the uncle's house, thinking that the men had been killed. They began to scream. Azza felt suddenly that she was responsible for all of these women and children. She ordered them firmly to go to the back room and locked them inside. Suddenly, she found herself standing in front of the bulldozer, which had almost entered the basement of the house. She started shouting, "We are only women and children," holding up her hands.

The bulldozer stopped and the soldiers entered the house and began to search her. Then they asked her to open the other room and to ask each person to come out alone and they were also searched. The women were still worried that the men in the other house had been killed so Azza told them, lying, of course, that the soldiers had told her that the men were all right and alive.

"Please, God, give me a magic wand like a fairy. I will use it to either kill the Israelis or make them withdraw." "God, I am a child, don't you like children?" Onoud was talking to herself during the search. Susan, the mother, asked her to pray to God. "I am asking him but it seems he is not listening," Onoud answered. Azza did not know how she could pull herself together enough to stand in front of the soldiers. They used her as a human shield to search the other parts of the house, room by room.

She started negotiating with the soldiers to let her and the others out. They decided to keep as human shields her two sons, Qussai (17) and Hazem (14), and another cousin, Khaled (22), and would let all of the others leave. At first, Azza refused to leave her children alone with the soldiers but when she looked at the other women and children, who were screaming and telling her that they would not leave without her she decided to go. The decision was taken but how to implement it? All these events were taking place with a continuous battle outside between the Palestinian resistance and the occupying army. Bombing, shelling and bullets were flying everywhere. The soldiers said that they could co-ordinate with their troops to stop shooting but they could not guarantee the "Arabs".

During this debate, the children were so frightened that one of the soldiers decided to offer them chocolate. The kids refused to even touch it, leaving it on the floor. Then the soldier found a lot of sweets, chocolates and baklawa. The day before the attack the results of the state high school exams had been announced and Azza's daughter had succeeded with very high marks (92.9%) so all the friends and relatives came the night before to congratulate her. That was why the house was full of sweets. The soldier offered the sweets, saying "You can eat it, it's yours."

Meanwhile, Azza decided to risk it and allowed everyone to leave the house. This was an adventure in itself. They had to leave by crawling on the sand around the house to reach the neighbour's place, one by one. Azza was the only one accompanying each. "I really did not know who reached the other house safely and who did not. None of the women was able to count the children and I had to go inside our house to check that I had left no one behind. Of course, the boys and counsin were held as hostages."

Everyone stayed with the neighbours without knowing what had happened to the men in the other house or to the children who had been kept with the soldiers. There was a fierce battle going on, during which the Israelis surrounded the nearby health centre; they did not let the ambulances in or out. One man, driving his car past their new refuge, shouted, "Help, help somebody, help me!" The car stopped suddenly in front of them. The man's son had been shot dead and he was trying to take him to the health centre. The car had broken down and he could not carry him. The women decided to risk the shooting and help the man to carry his son to the centre, returning afterwards to the refuge, crawling under fire. Finally, the Israelis withdrew and allowed the ambulances to come and take everyone out.

This took place about five days ago. I have been trying to write about it but could not succeed. All the news, horror and killing around us, in Beit Hanoun, in Gaza City, in the Maghazi Refugee Camp, in Rafah, everywhere, and now in Lebanon. All of it the same, civilians are being killed, Israelis are attacking and destroying and the world watches, blaming us, accusing us of being the terrorists.

Am I really supposed to believe in a peaceful future for my son with such an aggressive state as a neighbour?

I really don't know.

She wrote the below on Thursday, July 6.

When I woke up in this morning I heard that the Israeli tanks were near Hanan's, a field educator in our organization, house, so I called her and told her not to come to work. She said, "I am getting dressed. Don't worry, Lama. They are one kilometer from our house. We all O.K. I will come. Besides, Maisa [Hanan's daughter], has an examination at the university so she has already left and I don't want her to be alone in Gaza so I will come and wait for her to finish the exam and take her back home."

When I came to work half an hour later Hanan called and said, "The Israeli tanks are near my house. I can't come."

Around 9:00 a.m. Hanan called and said, "The tanks are destroying our garden, all of the trees and everything. We are all sitting in the basement." We could hear the sound of the tanks and the shooting. She asked us to call Maisa when she finished the exam and tell her to go to her uncle's house. The line was interrupted.

Four days ago, Hanan came with two acinuses of green grapes. She said, "You always ask me about them, Lama. I know you cook them with grape leaves and Raghda (a volunteer in our work) likes to eat them with salt. When she was talking on the phone about their garden I immediately told her: "Don't worry. I still have my acinus. I will give them to you to plant after they leave."

Now the mobiles of both Hanan and Ali are closed for some reason. Maybe they didn't have electricity yesterday in order to charge them.

At 11 a.m. Maisa called, crying, "Aunty Lama, what happened to my family? The land phone is not working and the mobiles are closed." We calmed her down as much as we could and asked her to come to the office. She came and until now she doesn't know that their garden has been ruined.

All of this was going on while the funeral of yesterday's martyrs was passing by our office with all the shooting. The Apaches were shooting from their machine guns with a loud voice, the F16s were flying, and the no pilot planes, too. The electricity was going and coming. Still I had to take care of a volunteer in our office to make sure that she got home safely, in the south of Gaza City. I had to make sure where my husband was, like everybody in the office was making sure about the position of each member of the family. I asked the employees who live in the north to go to their families and stay with them.

I'm worried about Hanan and her family and I'm worried about everybody else living there now. Especially when I hear the news about the ambulances that are not allowed to go into the area, and that they are shooting at them and not allowing them to enter.

I hear also in the radio the people asking the ambulances to come and pick up a girl that was shot by the Israelis while she was filling water for her family. They don't know if she's alive or not. She's 15 years old. Her name is Muna. People are calling the radio stations, saying "What is going on? They have arrested all of the men. They took their mobiles and are shooting at anything moving."

But still I'm working; I have to draft an appeal to the international community about the situation here. I have to write my quarterly report to my supervisor.

Today is Thursday. Tomorrow our weekend begins and I will plan something to do outside the house with my friends.

Yes, don't be surprised! No matter what they do to us: bomb, destroy, kill, wound, cut electricity or water, whatever. We will not forget that we are still human beings and have the right to live normally under normal conditions. We have the right to love, make love, work, sleep, hate, eat, dance and enjoy our lives. And all of this is proof that we are still here, living.

(Lama wrote after sending this article that she called Hanan's neighbour, who said that there were two tanks in Hanan's garden and that the soldiers had entered their house and that was why they could not reach them. While Lama wrote this two were shot dead in the area.)


Dr. Fawwaz Abu Sitta, Economics Professor at al-Azhar University.

I am a professor of economics at al-Azhar University. I live with my wife, Anika Fagner, a German citizen, and my son, 18-year-old Suleiman, in a 3-story villa. We live on the second floor of the building. My brother Nawaf, an engineer, lives with his wife and his two daughters, 13-year-old Nouran and 7-year-old Dana, on the third floor. Fortunately, my mother, 82, is in Cairo visiting her daughter.

For some reason, I expected that the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, located directly to the north of our villa, would be bombarded, as the building of the Ministry of Interior and the office of the Prime Minister were bombarded twice. So, my wife and I slept in the southern part of our house as the building of the Ministry is located to the north of the house. We also took some precautionary measures.

During the first bombardment of the Ministry on 13 July 2006, my son was on his way back home, and my wife and I were sleeping. We woke up hearing the blast.

I was astonished then not by the destruction incurred to the 7-storey building of the Ministry, rather by the destruction incurred to the garden, which my father and I had worked for years to make it such beautiful. The garden was destroyed and became a cemetery for debris.

A large cement block hit my mother's balcony, where she used to sit. The villa was severely damaged, as windows and doors were destroyed. My wife, my son and I have been shocked by the bombardment and the damage incurred to the house and the garden during the first bombardment of the Ministry.

Last night, I was awake as I heard a drone flying over the area. My wife was sleeping. I opened the doors and prevented my son from moving to any other place in the house. I expected that bombardment would take place again, but I did not expect it last night and against the same building that was largely destroyed in the first attack.

When the bombardment took place, the house was severely damaged. Debris hit the rooms, including my office. I was shocked when I saw debris in the living room, which could have killed my wife, my son and me if we were there.

My wife got up hearing the blast. She was screaming and calling me and Suleiman, because we were outside the room trying to check the damage. Due to darkness, I was not able to check the damage until the sunshine.

Children were heard screaming in dozens or even hundreds of neighboring flats, especially in the apartment building located to the west. These flats were also damaged.


Ghadir Ahmad El-Omari, Employee of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

My name is Ghadir Ahmad El-Omari. I was born in 1976. I work at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. I am responsible for the Center's monthly publication.

I live in the building opposite the Governmental Buildings Complex in Gaza City. I moved there with my husband, Ibrahim, in late February last year. Prior to that, we spent a year designing and furnishing our apartment in the building. We made out house just the way we wanted it to be. The 5-story building is separated from the complex by a street. I was forced to leave our apartment on the 5th floor of the building and go to my father's house after Israeli occupation forces (IOF) bombed the Gaza power station on 27 June 2006. I moved to my father's house because I'm expecting my first child. The doctor advised me not to climb stairs. I could not follow the doctor's advice without leaving our apartment, since the power outage means that the elevator does not work.

It was about 1:40 when I woke up to the sound of an explosion. I rushed to the window and looked around the building where my father and sister live. I didn't see anything to indicate that the explosion was near the building. I went back to the room and turned on the radio. I searched for a local radio station with news about the explosion, but to no avail.

I was very worried that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was the target of the Israeli bombing. It was customary for them to repeat bombing a place that was targeted earlier. I knew that my husband Ibrahim was in our apartment. And he was awake since his work as a correspondent for the Associated Press required him to stay awake and follow the events on the ground.

A few minutes passed before my mobile phone rang. It was my husband Ibrahim. As soon as I recognized his voice, I knew that the explosion I heard a few minutes earlier was a new Israeli raid on the Government Buildings Complex, opposite the building where I'm supposed to be had it not been for the circumstances that forced me to leave due to the power outage.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs building that was bombed in the predawn hours of 17 July 2006 for the second time is the closest building to our apartment. That is why most of the apartments in our building sustained damages, especially since the bombardment was by fighter jets.

The anxiety and longing to know what damages were inflicted on my apartment was a scenario repeating itself for the second time in less than 4 days. The first time, when the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was targeted on 13 July 2006, we were suffering in my father's house from a power outage that prevented us from following the news through Palestine Television. This time we had power and we turned to the television to find out what happened.

In the early morning and before going to work, I went to my apartment to see the damage. The door between my bedroom and balcony was destroyed. The door step was destroyed. Some floor tiles from the balcony were ripped out by the explosion. Debris covered everything in the bedroom and balcony. The room next to the bedroom was also extensively damaged. Its door was destroyed, and walls covered in black smoke. The furniture was greatly damaged due to the shrapnel that hit the room. My neighbors in the same building had similar damages. Thank God we did not sustain any human losses. Most of the building's residents left after the first strike at the Ministry. Those that remained took precautions to stay away from rooms overlooking the street.

You may have noticed that I didn't mention the windows when listing damages. The simple reason is that these windows were completely destroyed in the first bombardment. Our car also sustained heavy damages due to the debris and shrapnel.

The room in which the furniture was extensively damaged was the room that my husband and I planned to have for our first child, whom we're expecting this month. We spent long hours talking about the details of the room: where we'll put the bed, closet, and toys, the color of the wall paint, covering the floor with a protective layer in case the child falls down, and other details that occupy parents awaiting their first child. Of course, these plans are now put off indefinitely.

After bombing the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the second time and in light of the expectation of having the remaining ministries in the complex targeted, our apartment faces an unknown future. And we haven't even finished paying its installments. The same destiny that has led to damaging the apartment, rendering it uninhabitable, awaits us and our first child.


Ibrahim Barzak, Associated Press Correspondent to the Gaza Strip since 1992.

GAZA CITY (AP) - It was hot, there was no electricity. I was waiting for a phone call and slouching toward my balcony when something hit me from behind.

I thought it was a door as I hit the ground.

Before dusting myself off or assessing the damage, I hit the speed dial on my phone to report to the world that Israeli planes had bombed the Palestinian Foreign Affairs building across the street from my apartment -- part of Israel's two-week old offensive that followed the capture of an Israeli soldier by Hamas-linked militants.

The 1:30 a.m. blast threw an entire neighborhood into the middle of the war zone. My neighbors and I were living in the collateral damage.

The smell of dust and explosives, the shattering of glass and sound of bombs are nothing new to a journalist who's covered this conflict for well over a decade. Neither are they new to the people stuck in the middle of this unending battle between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army.

Women and children were screaming in the streets. Also nothing new.

But this time, the women and children were my neighbors.

Thirteen people were wounded in the bombing.

Cars were destroyed. Mine, with giant stickers that said "AP" on front and back, had a door blown off.

As residents of my building streamed into the hallways, some of us coordinated as best we could in the darkness and the panic and fear.

Two of us met up in the stairway with a flashlight -- an AP reporter and a Fatah spokesman.

"Have you knocked down that door yet?" someone yelled, checking neighbors to make sure everyone was OK. No need, came the answer -- "He's away tonight, working the night shift." And so we worked our way down.

On the third floor we found an elderly man. Trying to escape Gaza's heat, he'd wandered out to his balcony to fall sleep. He was unconscious now, and we carried him inside, where an emergency team met us and took him to the hospital.

We learned later that he was fine, knocked out by the sound and the concussion of the blast.

On the street, one of my neighbors was carrying his daughters, aged 7 months and 6 years.

The younger one was covered with dust.

So was my bed when I returned to it later that morning. All of my windows were blown out, and shrapnel stuck into the walls. A teddy bear I've owned since I was a child was buried under glass.

Today, I'll try to clean up. I'll talk with my wife, who is expected to give birth any day now -- the hospital where we want to have our baby demanded 25 liters (6.6 gallons) of gasoline for their generator, because electricity supply can't be guaranteed. I'll see if I can find a new door for my car.

But I won't put up new windows. Not until the offensive is over.

The three testimonies above were published by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights on July 17.


Mohammed Omer, a freelance journalist and photographer who lives in Rafah, Palestine and maintains the website Rafah Today.

In a recent interview with the radio show Arab Talk, Mohammed details the brutality of the current assault on Gaza by the Israeli army. Listen to the full interview.


Mona Elfarra, a doctor, mother and activist working at Al Awda Hospital in Gaza City. She blogs at From Gaza, with love. This segment was originally published on Electronic Intifada and is republished with permission.

I am writing while the jet fighters are in the sky with their horrible sounds, bringing death and horror. It is 10:30 pm and I am still waiting, like everyone. I hope they will not go ahead with their operation into Gaza; the outcome could be horrible. The resistance movements are going ahead with their preparations too, but it is obvious which side holds the balance of power. Anyway, Israel - resistance or no resistance - is attacking us all the time, but this time will be different, and in the process many civilian lives will be lost. I am listening to the local radio. It seems that the operation started in Khan Yunis. The artillery started shelling under the cover of Apache helicopters and jet fighters.

I am able to write now, but I do not know what will happen next. The power might cut off soon. A few hours ago, Mohammed and Sondos had a narrow escape during their way home - a car exploded 150 meters from my home, close to the president's home. One person died and four were injured. I cannot help worrying, I am after all a mother.

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I shall stay strong; tommorrow I am going to the Red Crescent Society office. We are supposed to get some medications to be used at Al-Awda Hospital for the emergency department. The medications were stopped at the closed borders, but I am hoping to get them through with the help of the World Health Organization. I am not sure if we shall receive them in time, but I shall keep trying.

The airplanes' sounds in the sky are geting louder. I shall keep writing, as it is a big relief for me.

Al-Awda Hospital is inside Jabalia refujee camp. Two weeks ago, it received the Ghalia family children, who lost their parents during the beach incident. Mohamed and Sondos are my dear kids. I pray for the safety of all the the children of the world, including Israeli children.

Al-Awda Hospital's mediction supplies are enough for only one week of routine use. If the operation continues and casualty numbers increase, I am warning that a health disaster will follow.

The operation against Gaza is continuing. It is 1:30 am; the Gaza bridge has been destroyed. The jet fighters are still in the sky hitting many targets. The Gaza power plant was hit by at least seven missiles. I can see a big fire from my window, and hear the sirens of emergency vans. I live by the beach, and can hear that the gun boats started shelling too.

As of 7 AM, 28 June, I am updating this diary. Last night, it was too dangerous for me to reach the computer. The power was cut off. I stayed on the floor with my son and daughter; we did not sleep at all - like all the residents in the Gaza strip. We could not manage to get a few hours of sleep, as the jet fighters showered our area with sonic bombs - it is a very loud and horrifying sound.

They are continuing their attacks.

I contacted the hospital several times - no casualties yet. The operation is going on in different parts of the Gaza strip, but it is focused in the south. I have no idea about the casualties in Rafah.


Abed al Salaam Abu Askar, Director of the Gaza Media Center

The Israeli attack on Gaza will affect the daily life of more that 1.5 million Palestinians who live in this area.

Palestinians will have no electricity for more than 4-6 months as result of the destruction of the power plant in Gaza. According to the head of the power plant they will need at least that much time to fix it. This will affect things like hospitals, water plants, factories, small businesses and other sectors.

As part of the military operations in Gaza which Israel called "Summer Rains," the Rafah crossing is closed and that means nobody is able to leave Gaza or come into Gaza. Because of that there are 3,000 Palestinians stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. There are many Palestinians who need medical care who cannot leave Gaza to get to Egypt or to the West Bank.

On June 25, the Israeli's also cut the supply of oil to the Gaza Strip which means that transportation will stop and also the generators which many hospitals are using will shut in a few days. Access to food is also problem because of the closing of the Karni crossing. Within a few days the people will start suffering from hunger. The same goes with access to medicine and construction materials. This is small part of how the attack on Gaza will affect the Palestinians.

Personally, I am in Cairo and cannot go home because of the closing of the borders. It means I am stuck here until the end of the operation which will end when????

UPDATE: Last night, after the huge air strike and sonic booms, I spoke with some friends and family members who live in Gaza. I couldn't talk with everyone because their mobile phones were off because they can't charge them since there is no power.

A friend of mine, Dr. Fakher, who lives north of Gaza City, sent me a text message at 4:20 in the morning telling me that they targeted 10 locations in Gaza. I tried to call him but he did not take my call because he wanted to save his battery, the phone is very important these days. We chatted by text and Dr. Fakher told my that everything is completely dark

He added, "I am still waiting, like everyone. I hope they will not go ahead with their operation into Gaza, the outcome could be horrible. The kids are so scared because of the dark and the noise of the bombings and planes."

Dr. Fakher told me there is no oil for his generator and there are no candles. It's like the old days when he was in an Israeli jail. In order to have light, he puts some butter in a roll of tissue paper and burns it like a candle. When I asked Dr. Fakher if he needed anything from Cairo - where I am stuck now - he said, "Candles and more candles."

My brother called me at 5 am and told me not to be worry about the family, that they are ok. He too asked me to bring a lot of candles from Cairo. My sons Ihab and Basher decided not to go shopping in Cairo. They will save their money to buy candles to take to Gaza since it seems this is the most wanted item. And it's not for romantic dinners; it's to keep the light on.

Still in Cairo, waiting like 3,000 Palestinians for the Rafah crossing to open to go home.


Laila El-Haddad, a journalist and mother in Gaza City. She blogs at Raising Yousuf, where this first appeared.

Friends and family in Gaza have told me they are bracing themselves for the worst, while praying for the best. In Rafah, the refugee camp that has not been spared the wrath of the Israeli Army on so many occasions in the past, where 16, 000 Palestinians lost their homes to armoured bulldozers, families have holed themselves indoors, fearing for their lives.

Israel has taken control of the border area, including Rafah Crossing, and the Airport. Colleague, friend, and activist Fida Qishta with whom I toured the northeast US is on her way to Egypt, where she will have to remain until she will be allowed to enter her home in Gaza in Rafah by Israeli forces, who have sealed off the Gaza Strip in its entirety. I was worried about her safety, since she is from Rafah, but I received a frantic telephone call from her in London airport where her flight was delayed, and where is making plans to remain exiled in Egypt. Meanwhile, journalist colleagues have told me that CNN and BBC crews from Jerusalem were also not allowed through the Erez Crossing into Gaza yesterday.

UPDATE: Israeli F-16s bombed Gaza's main bridge, right next to my father's farm, between northern and southern Gaza. They have also destroyed Gaza's ONLY power plant, and electricity in most of Gaza has been cut off as a result. I've just spoken to my grandmother in Khan Yunis, who confirmed the entire Strip has plunged into darkness, with people stocking up on food and supplies. The electricity of course has also been cut off in hospitals and clincs, though I'm not sure how long the generators can last.

Friends in Gaza City also tell us that terrorizing sonic boom attacks have resumed, stronger than before, full force, by low-flying jets breaking the sound barrier throughout the night over the civlian population-illegal in Israel, the united States, and most all of the world.