Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., January 26, 2009 Shvat 1, 5769 | | Israel Time: 12:43 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 19:45 28/12/2008
'Little Baghdad' in Gaza - bombs, fear and rage
By Amira Hass, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israeli News, Amira Hass 

Click here for more articles by Amira Hass

There are many corpses and wounded, every moment another casualty is added to the list of the dead, and there is no more room in the morgue.

Relatives search among the bodies and the wounded in order to bring the dead quickly to burial. A mother whose three school-age children were killed, and are piled one on top of the other in the morgue, screams and then cries, screams again and then is silent.
Advertisement
Mustapha Ibrahim saw all this on Saturday at one in the afternoon, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. As a field investigator for a human rights organization, he thought he'd been immunized, but nothing prepared him for what he saw. Wounded people whose situation was less than serious were asked to leave Shifa, in order to free up beds.

Dr. Haidar Eid is a lecturer in Cultural Studies at Al-Aqsa University. He, too, saw the bodies and the wounded on Saturday. Also the children whose limbs had been amputated.

"To pick a time like this, 11:30 [A.M.], to bomb in the hearts of cities, this is terrible. This choice was intended to cause as large a massacre as possible," he summed up.

Abu Muhammad was 200 meters from the hospital, when an awful sound was heard: Three large police centers which were bombed, were located close to the hospital. "Within seconds, this was a little Baghdad, bombs everywhere, smoke, fire, people not knowing where to hide. Fear everywhere, and rage and hatred," he said.

He himself ran to his daughters' school, like tens of thousands of other parents in the Strip. From 11:25 until 11:30, as some 50 warplanes bombed their targets, hundreds of thousands of children were in the streets. Some were coming from the first shift of classes, others were going to the second. "In the schoolyard I saw 500 frightened girls, crying. They did not know me, but clung to me," Abu Muhammad related.

In the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood alone, there were 43 fatalities. One mourning tent was set up for all of them. Most of them were young policemen who had joined the civilian police and were killed during the course commencement ceremony.

Training camps of the Izz-al Din al-Qassam and interrogation and detention centers were deserted when they were bombed. But police centers in the Strip, which give services to people, were teeming. No one believed that they would be bombed.

In the afternoon, they were still looking for bodies in the debris. Khalil Shahin rushed to the police station in the center of the Strip. "A huge building, and all of it on the floor," he said. Some 30 people were killed there. He knew that his nephew, a civilian, was killed when he went to clear up some matter at the station.

At first, teacher Umm Salah thought the explosion was a sonic boom. The whole building shook, all the glass, but the smoke and the clouds of dust, and the wails of ambulances, made clear that something much more horrible had taken place. The glass wounded a number of pupils. There were those who cried, there were those who were silent.

She found her son in the maelstrom in the street. He had been taking a math test when the bombing began. They went back home together, finding his younger brother with their 70-year-old grandmother. The grandmother tried to hide her fear as she took care of her grandchildren.

"There's been no electricity, nor gas, nor flour or bread nearly all of the past week," Umm Salah said. "And suddenly the electricity came back. I turned on the television, I saw the images, I turned it off and sent the kids to do their homework."

Related articles:
  • Hamas: Time for a third Intifada
  • 3 senior Hamas officers among 230 killed during IAF strikes in Gaza
  • Olmert: Our desire for quiet was met with terror
  • One Israeli killed, 4 hurt as Palestinian rockets hit Negev home
  • ANALYSIS / IAF strike on Gaza is Israel's version of 'shock and awe'
  • IN PICTURES / Gaza under attack
  • Bradley Burston / The worst anti-Israel charges you'll hear in wartime
  • U.S. demands Hamas end terrorist acts, urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties
  • Israeli Arabs react with violence to IDF operations in Gaza
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Disturbing trend
    Jewish Agency says Anti-Semitic acts in Jan. 2009 triple last year's records.
    After the war
    IDF gains in Gaza have softened Israel's stance on Shalit deal.
      1.   play with fire and get burned 12:47  |  don 28/12/08
      2.   Disgusting war crimes 13:00  |  Ben Alofs 28/12/08
      3.   Unbelieveable 13:08  |  Ofer 28/12/08
      4.   They just deserve what they get 13:12  |  maurice 28/12/08
      5.   1939 Nazis, 2008, Hamas, any difference ?? 13:13  |  Jean 28/12/08
      6.   You want to kill me, I kill you first, get the msg Hamas 13:14  |  maurcie 28/12/08
      7.   Yet more arab propaganda 13:21  |  Yishai 28/12/08
      8.   Blind ideology 13:22  |  Doug 28/12/08
      9.   Ben Alofs ? you are a Knuckle Head 13:24  |  Eli 28/12/08
      10.   what did they think was going to happen? 13:26  |  ERSB 28/12/08
      11.   #2 dr ben and the blame game he plays all of the time 13:34  |  victor hardman 28/12/08
      12.   Amira Hass is an idiot 13:49  |  Isaac Barr MD 28/12/08
      13.   Where was Amira Hass when 13:49  |  Robert Haymond 28/12/08
      14.   Maurice, we got the message. And we have your address. 13:57  |  XY 28/12/08
      15.   Hamas wanted it this way 13:58  |  Chris 28/12/08
      16.   Thanks to Israel, islamofascists get a quick... 13:58  |  maurice 28/12/08
      17.   to amira hass 14:01  |  fish israel 28/12/08
      18.   amira hass is a liar.Court verdict 14:02  |  fish israel 28/12/08
      19.   What did they think would happen? 14:08  |  James 28/12/08
      20.   Ehud Barak is a War Criminal 14:09  |  Joe 28/12/08
      21.   Bradley Burston - You need not look abroad! 14:14  |  Avraham 28/12/08
      22.   to XY, come to Gaza, IAF is waiting for you... 14:14  |  maurice 28/12/08
      23.   For all Virgins candidates, meeting point Gaza 14:15  |  jean 28/12/08
      24.   To XY, i am so afraid.,bouhhhhhhh Islamofascist is coming 14:17  |  maurice 28/12/08
      25.   #10, ERBS, they didn`t think 14:17  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 28/12/08
      26.   amira hass.Liar.Traitor.Mad. 14:17  |  jeremy 28/12/08
      27.   Ben Alofs - Kassam rocketing is not war crime ? 14:18  |  ANUAR AL SADAT 28/12/08
      28.   to a joe in london 14:29  |  andrew 28/12/08
      29.   Amira Hass wil have lots of parking in Gaza 15:16  |  Yair 28/12/08
      30.   Israel bites on Hamas bait (again) 15:20  |  Natallie Durson 28/12/08
      31.   Telling it like it is 15:30  |  Benny 28/12/08
      32.   Amira Hass is a collaborator 15:38  |  Ezra 28/12/08
      33.   Every opertunity was given to stop terrorist activity 22:42  |  Psalms 83 28/12/08
      34.   Another anti-state diatribe from hamass 00:51  |  Arie 29/12/08
      35.   Joe in london? You sound upset 00:55  |  Arie 29/12/08
     Read & React
    Livni: Israel should strike Hamas again to halt arms smuggling
    Responses: 44
    Amir Oren: 'Decisive' Gaza offensive merely rehearsal for next crisis versus Iran
    Responses: 6
    Netanyahu: Likud-led government wouldn't build new settlements
    Responses: 30
    Akiva Eldar: Saudi plan offers Israel united front with Arab states against Iran
    Responses: 7


    More Headlines
    11:52 Egypt to Hamas: Take Gaza truce before Netanyahu is PM
    12:30 Veteran ultra-Orthodox MK Avraham Ravitz dies aged 75
    10:36 Netanyahu: Likud-led coalition wouldn't build new settlements
    12:12 Survey: Most Israelis want Benjamin Netanyahu to be prime minister
    11:24 Iran MPs plan Gaza visit to praise Hamas resistance against 'Zionist offensive'
    11:55 Sky News joins BBC in refusing to air Gaza fundraiser
    10:14 Nine held for allegedly attacking Israeli Arabs in Upper Nazareth
    09:33 IDF rabbinate publication during Gaza war: We will show no mercy on the cruel
    10:35 Haaretz probe: Unknown overseas sources paid MK Lieberman NIS 2.5m
    10:51 2 hurt, 1 seriously, after light plane crashes near Beit She`an
    04:42 EU presses Egypt to take action against Gaza arms smuggling
    11:27 Number of laid-off Israelis set new high in December
    07:41 U.S. businessman Guma L. Aguiar gives $8m to Nefesh b'Nefesh
    07:43 Program launched to bring all Jewish teachers worldwide to Israel
    04:43 Court to state: Let foreign media into Gaza when borders open
    04:45 Egypt evacuates Rafah area, fearing IAF strike on Gaza
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Summer in Israel
    Israeli style - Tzofim Chetz V'Keshet 2009
    Blue And White Forever Israel Army T-shirts
    Wear with Proud Donate the Soldiers Kit
    You can make a direct IMPACT!
    on the life of an Israeli soldier
    State of Israel Bonds
    During this time of market volatility, Israel bonds can help.
    SURF RAMBAM
    Keep current about new-wave medical care, education and research.
    Summer Camp in Israel
    The best place for your children this summer
    Fattal Hotel Chain
    Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Jewish Singles Personal Ads
    Find the love of your life on JDate.com
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
    Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel
    birthright Israel | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved