Survivors of Israeli offensive on Gaza give heartbreaking testimonies in new video

Palestinian rights organization Al-Haq has released a new video with heartbreaking testimonies by people who lost family members in Israel’s November military offensive against Gaza.

Jamal al-Dalou testifies in the video how his family was wiped out by an Israeli bomb. On 18 November, al-Dalou and his son Aballah left the family home to go shopping. After four days of Israeli siege, the family had run short of food supplies. Al-Dalou says:

We do not belong to any resistance groups. We have neither rockets nor any of the objects that the Israelis accuse us of having … At about 12am I went back home with the shopping, including some toys for my grandchildren. My son Abdallah was with me while the rest of the family members were at home … My sister 75 years, my wife 50 years, and my two daughters who were 25 and 18 years old and my daughter-in-law who was 25 years old. My four grandchildren were in the house …

Yes. All members of my family were killed.

Extensive human and material damage

In a rapid assessment of Gaza, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports warns that the explosive remnants of the attacks on 1,500 sites need to be dealt with rapidly. In comparison, Israel attacked 550 sites during its attacks on Gaza in 2008-2009, according to the Israeli military. The latest military offensive internally displaced an estimated 14,920 persons, and left 3,000 persons living unsafely in homes damaged in air-strikes or housed with relatives in precarious conditions.

OCHA reports about the psychosocial impact and stress caused by the intensity of the hostilities. The north and middle regions of Gaza were hardest hit, having:

the highest counts of psychosocial incidents among both adults and children ranging from fear, anxiety to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, while children additionally suffered insomnia, hyperactivity, nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting).

Following the attacks, Gaza faces problems with

access to primary health care medicines, medical disposable materials, medical equipment, support for the creation of fully equipped day cares and emergency centers, emergency health units and the provision of ambulances.

OCHA identified the following immediate priorities:

1. Provision of psychosocial support to children, clearance of explosive remnants of war, legal remedies;
2. Supply of essential drugs and disposables out of stock;
3. Shelter and Non Food Items: Addressing the basic humanitarian needs of approx. 3,000 people still displaced due to the loss of, or damage, sustained to their homes.
4. Emergency support to damaged residences, basic social infrastructure including schools and water and sanitation networks.

It’s about time that the bill for these damages is presented to Israel.

Comments

Impunity

Permalink Carol Scheller replied on Sat, 12/22/2012 - 19:53

This film is so important for people to see in order to understand the magnitude of the Israeli army's total disregard for life if it is the life of a Palestinian. Will they be made to pay for these crimes ?