Gaza Strip hospitals are urgently requesting blood and medical supplies that under constant Israeli closure they are unable to get. They have run out of space for all of the dying Palestinians. Israeli occupation forces have injured 100s of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past week alone. This week has been particularly brutal in the Gaza Strip. Under the violent Israeli occupation Palestinians are held hostage, unable to get away from invading Israeli soldiers shelling from tanks, firing from Apaches in the sky, and shooting guns at any Palestinian who is here. Kristen Ess writes from Gaza. Read more about Severe Attack on the Gaza Strip
At 9 o’clock yesterday morning the Israeli military destroyed all of the bridges the lead in and out of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. Israeli tanks and helicopters then shelled the town for 18 hours. And this was just one part of Gaza. Kristen Ess reports. Read more about Israel pounds Gaza into dust
“WEWERE sitting in the Asfuls’ front room. Suddenly the two tanks at the end of the street opened up their machine-guns. The bullets were flying so close to the house we could see the tracer fire slapping straight past the windows. To leave without crossing the line of fire would be impossible. All we could do was sit and hope the bullets did not come through the window.” Justin Huggler writes in The Independent. Read more about In Rafah, the children have grown so used to the sound of gunfire they can't sleep without it
Block O in Rafah is almost empty now. Most of the people have gone. The 8 meter high, 10 meter deep prison wall that the Israeli military government is building — as it devastates Rafah — is growing. Kristen Ess writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Report from Rafah Block 'O'
On this, the final day of Ramadan 2002, Israel continues its decades old illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Khalil (Hebron), under effective curfew for years. Apache helicopter missiles fired into Gaza City. Israeli bulldozers continued to raze houses in the Gaza Strip and thousands of Palestinians were held under another day of curfew throughout the occupied West Bank and parts of the Gaza Strip. Kristen Ess writes from Occupied Gaza. Read more about The end of Ramadan
Gaza City did not sleep last night. 35 Israeli tanks plowed into the Tal Al-Hawa area in the south of the city. Apache missiles were fired from the sky. The explosions lasted throughout the night. A man called out that the international community must wake up. He said, “They are killing our children but we are here to stay. The world must listen to the truth.” Another said quietly, “No one heard you.” Kristen Ess writes from Gaza, where the reality of international apathy is measured by the daily tank and helicopter attacks. Read more about Every day is a major invasion in Gaza
Israeli soldiers targeted a two year-old boy yesterday. Even they could not come up with an excuse for shooting him in the head. At his funeral today Fatah Youth flags flew in the breeze, the baby’s body covered in purple-pink flowers. He was carried on a stretcher along side another small boy, 9 years old, who died from two day old injuries. Kristen Ess writes from occupied Gaza. Read more about More reports from Block O in Rafah
As I write this, now at home, I am watching the news on television. An Israeli tank is shooting at little boys who throw stones at it in Nablus. George Bush struts across a green grass lawn in a clean suit, talking about UN Resolutions. Kristen Ess writes from Gaza. Read more about Ramadan in Gaza
A pile of gray cement, once a family’s home, sits next to the street. Directly in front is a small white tent. This is where the family now lives. There is no furniture, no clothes, no family pictures. They are all somewhere under the rubble. Each day at least 6 Palestinian homes are demolished, except Saturday which is a holiday for Israelis. Kristen Ess writes from Rafah, Gaza. Read more about A smaller space each day
In Namsawi, an area of Khan Younis refugee camp directly in the line of Israeli fire, displaced families live in buildings with holes the size of Volkswagen bugs. Apache missle fire and tank shelling have destroyed many areas of the camp made up of soccer fields and cement apartment buildings. There are children playing in the sandy dirt who scatter when shots are fired. Half the population is under 15. Kristen Ess reports from Gaza. Read more about Israel's daily destruction of Gaza
