ReutersWarning – this article contains graphic descriptions of violence and death. The hand of the victim was covered with dust and streaked blood on the fingers. They lie buried in rubble, like many other victims of Israeli air strikes – this time they are in Gaza City in the north. A teenage boy was rescued from the first-floor of a collapsed structure. It appeared that he was alive when his legs and feet emerged. Then the entire body was lifted and flopped in the arms of rescuers. They leaned over and passed the boy into the arms of another group. In the narrow streets, men dug with hands. There were no sounds coming out of the rubble. Ramez Abu Nasr had been digging for hours. The falling masonry engulfed his mother, father and two brothers. Ramez was able to save his youngest sibling. The boy said that he heard his parents nearby reciting Shehada (the Muslim prayer of faith). “I took my younger brother out at the last minute.” I don’t understand how we could return to our home…without my mother, father, or brothers,” says Ramez. The family fled from Jabalia 12 days ago when the Israel Defense Forces began their renewed offensive in the north against Hamas. IDF issued an order to evacuate 400,000 people from the northern Gaza Strip. They were told to move south. Many thousands stayed back, tired of constant displacement and afraid to go to a place without supplies. Inside a house still standing, a man kneels before his dead sister. She appears to be in her 30s. “Oh God, My Sister, My Sister,” he yells. Civil Defence volunteers are collecting bodies from buildings. They rush to the ambulance when they find a man who is badly injured. They are trying to save lives, but are also afraid of being bombed. Ahmed al Kahlout, from the local Civil Defence, looked around at the carnage. Behind him, another colleague is trying to give CPR on a woman. It’s hopeless. Ahmed says, “This is the al Sayyed family home.” “There are bodies and torn pieces in this area… It is a terrible crime. Several ambulances line up in the street. The majority of the people inside are dead. The bodies are piled high. All ages. A small child’s forehead is dripping with blood. A woman wrapped in a brightly colored blanket is loaded next to her. A middle-aged man lying dead on a hospital bed is next to the ambulance. Dr Hussam Ab Safiyyah told me over the phone that his hospital was facing a dire humanitarian situation and accused Israel for imposing collective punishment. The United States has accused Israel for blocking or refusing to deliver up to 90% of the aid to northern Gaza over the past month and threatened to reduce arms shipments until the situation changes. Israel says that it is “addressing” the issue and is taking American concerns very seriously. International journalists from media organizations, including the BBC are not allowed independent access to Gaza. The army said that they had also found weapons and boobytraps inside a medical facility. In the video, an officer with a blurred face points out weapons and boobytraps, and says to the camera, “Everything is a cynical exploit of civilians, inside a compound, inside a clinic.” We will find these terrorists in every corner. In Jabalia, an heavily pregnant woman sits in the dust outside of a house. Civil Defence workers help her onto a stretcher. Her father is standing there and tells his daughter, “You’re going to be fine. You’re going to give birth to my heart.” A shell explodes near her. The small group runs to the ambulance, and they escape. Every day, they plead for the peace of Jabalia. They want food, medicine, and schools to be opened. They plead, but know their voices cannot make it stop.With additional reporting by Haneen Abdeen and Alice DoyardIsrael & the PalestiniansIsrael-Gaza warIsraelHamas
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