Mohammad and Haitham 17
Seventeen-year-old cousins Mohammad and Haitham were playing marbles outside of their home in the central Gaza Strip when a bomb was launched over their heads. The bomb landed next to the boys and set Mohammad aflame. His cousin watched as he burned.
Mohammed is still unconscious in an Egyptian hospital.
"It was quiet and the sun was shining," Haitham recalls of the morning Mohammed died. The two played near the front of the home as Haitham's father and the cousins' grandmother sat nearby.
The family was outside because there was no electricity in the home, and there had been no airstrikes in the area for hours. They felt safe leaving their homes, but did not want to go far.
Their village, Al-Qarara, does not have any resistance factions or police stations nearby; it is four kilometers away from the Gaza-Israel border. It is slightly north of the Al-Quds Open University in Khan Younis.
Moments later a shell hit the area. Haitham recalled that his cousin's "body was burning and I could see heavy white smoke all around, I didn't know what was happening. I couldn't save him or help him. I didn't even notice that that my own body was on fire."
Haitham's face and arms were burning as he watched his cousin's entire body go up in flames.
"I started screaming," he remembers, when he started to feel the burns on his body. "I couldn't breathe," he said, his chest felt tight, his throat stung and he "felt paralyzed."
Nihal Ahmad is Haitham's mother. "The occupation killed my daughter Asma 4 years ago while she was on her way to school and now they want to kill my son with bombs I don't know of," she said.
"What do they want from us and where do they expect us to go?" she asked no one in particular.
Mohammad took a direct hit from a white phosphorus bomb. He was knocked unconscious and sustained serious burns all over his body. He was taken to hospital where medical staff was unable to revive him. The boy was then transferred to Egypt for medical treatment. When he reached Egypt doctors asked what sort of weapon caused his burns.
Doctors in Gaza are advising families to take precautions to protect themselves against the effects of the white phosphorus bombs. There is not much that they can do, but doctors are recommending that families keep damp cloths at hand and place them over their faces to prevent the white phosphorus from burning their skin.
As soon as it is safe, they say, families must leave the area where the bomb landed, take off all their clothes covered in the chemical, and to wash the affected parts of the skin with cold soapy water.
Seventeen-year-old cousins Mohammad and Haitham were playing marbles outside of their home in the central Gaza Strip when a bomb was launched over their heads. The bomb landed next to the boys and set Mohammad aflame. His cousin watched as he burned.
Mohammed is still unconscious in an Egyptian hospital.
"It was quiet and the sun was shining," Haitham recalls of the morning Mohammed died. The two played near the front of the home as Haitham's father and the cousins' grandmother sat nearby.
The family was outside because there was no electricity in the home, and there had been no airstrikes in the area for hours. They felt safe leaving their homes, but did not want to go far.
Their village, Al-Qarara, does not have any resistance factions or police stations nearby; it is four kilometers away from the Gaza-Israel border. It is slightly north of the Al-Quds Open University in Khan Younis.
Moments later a shell hit the area. Haitham recalled that his cousin's "body was burning and I could see heavy white smoke all around, I didn't know what was happening. I couldn't save him or help him. I didn't even notice that that my own body was on fire."
Haitham's face and arms were burning as he watched his cousin's entire body go up in flames.
"I started screaming," he remembers, when he started to feel the burns on his body. "I couldn't breathe," he said, his chest felt tight, his throat stung and he "felt paralyzed."
Nihal Ahmad is Haitham's mother. "The occupation killed my daughter Asma 4 years ago while she was on her way to school and now they want to kill my son with bombs I don't know of," she said.
"What do they want from us and where do they expect us to go?" she asked no one in particular.
Mohammad took a direct hit from a white phosphorus bomb. He was knocked unconscious and sustained serious burns all over his body. He was taken to hospital where medical staff was unable to revive him. The boy was then transferred to Egypt for medical treatment. When he reached Egypt doctors asked what sort of weapon caused his burns.
Doctors in Gaza are advising families to take precautions to protect themselves against the effects of the white phosphorus bombs. There is not much that they can do, but doctors are recommending that families keep damp cloths at hand and place them over their faces to prevent the white phosphorus from burning their skin.
As soon as it is safe, they say, families must leave the area where the bomb landed, take off all their clothes covered in the chemical, and to wash the affected parts of the skin with cold soapy water.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that Israeli forces will hold their fire beginning at 2am on Sunday morning local time, although Israeli forces will remain in Gaza.
During a late-evening press conference at the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Olmert said that Israel would consider withdrawing its forces from Gaza only if Hamas agrees to completely hold its fire.
More than 1,200 Palestinians, a third of them children, have been killed in the three-week Israeli onslaught. On the last day of the war, Israeli forces shelled a United Nations school where displaced Gazans had taken shelter. The three days before the announcement of the ceasefire witnessed some of the most intense shelling.
Olmert claimed that Israel's goals "were met in their entirety, and even beyond."
Olmert said that Hamas had deliberately been left out of the ceasefire arrangement because it is a "terrorist" organization.
Hamas itself said that it would disregard the Israeli declaration of a ceasefire, fighting on until its demands are met. "They have to understand that they have to talk to the resistance. It's useless to talk to Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas]," said Hamas representative in Lebanon Usama Hamdan.
"As long as the troops remain in Gaza resistance will continue," added Hamdan.
As Olmert spoke, Israeli and Hamas officials were in Egypt where indirect talks towards a formal ceasefire arrangement continue.
Olmert expressed "regret for the pain and the suffering for the unbearable situation," but nonetheless blamed Hamas for their condition. "Israel used its forces with as much sensitivity to the civilian pollution as it could," he claimed.
Also at the press conference, Israeli Army Minister Ehud Barak said the assault on Gaza has been "a war of choice, but the right one."
In Gaza, residents were not convinced. A 22-year-old journalist in Gaza City said Olmert's declaration was "a lie, and even if it's true, the losses are too much already."
As Israeli troops remain on the ground, the situation in Gaza remains uncertain.
This is not the first time a unilateral ceasefire has been declared in the current conflict. On 22 December, five days before Israel launched its massive air war on Gaza, Hamas declared a self-imposed one-day halt to its fire, to give negotiations a chance to restore calm. Israel rejected this.
Speaking to Reuters on that same day, Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev said, "A ceasefire cannot be unilateral."
Asked by Ma'an on Saturday about what had changed in Israel's view, Regev said only that Olmert "would address that" in his speech.
During a late-evening press conference at the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Olmert said that Israel would consider withdrawing its forces from Gaza only if Hamas agrees to completely hold its fire.
More than 1,200 Palestinians, a third of them children, have been killed in the three-week Israeli onslaught. On the last day of the war, Israeli forces shelled a United Nations school where displaced Gazans had taken shelter. The three days before the announcement of the ceasefire witnessed some of the most intense shelling.
Olmert claimed that Israel's goals "were met in their entirety, and even beyond."
Olmert said that Hamas had deliberately been left out of the ceasefire arrangement because it is a "terrorist" organization.
Hamas itself said that it would disregard the Israeli declaration of a ceasefire, fighting on until its demands are met. "They have to understand that they have to talk to the resistance. It's useless to talk to Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas]," said Hamas representative in Lebanon Usama Hamdan.
"As long as the troops remain in Gaza resistance will continue," added Hamdan.
As Olmert spoke, Israeli and Hamas officials were in Egypt where indirect talks towards a formal ceasefire arrangement continue.
Olmert expressed "regret for the pain and the suffering for the unbearable situation," but nonetheless blamed Hamas for their condition. "Israel used its forces with as much sensitivity to the civilian pollution as it could," he claimed.
Also at the press conference, Israeli Army Minister Ehud Barak said the assault on Gaza has been "a war of choice, but the right one."
In Gaza, residents were not convinced. A 22-year-old journalist in Gaza City said Olmert's declaration was "a lie, and even if it's true, the losses are too much already."
As Israeli troops remain on the ground, the situation in Gaza remains uncertain.
This is not the first time a unilateral ceasefire has been declared in the current conflict. On 22 December, five days before Israel launched its massive air war on Gaza, Hamas declared a self-imposed one-day halt to its fire, to give negotiations a chance to restore calm. Israel rejected this.
Speaking to Reuters on that same day, Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev said, "A ceasefire cannot be unilateral."
Asked by Ma'an on Saturday about what had changed in Israel's view, Regev said only that Olmert "would address that" in his speech.
Society of French Millers donates 22 tons of flour to Gaza; aid arrives on French plane to Tel Aviv
The second French plane in a week arrived in Tel Aviv Saturday, delivering 55 tons of aid for the people of Gaza.
The French have sent more than 91 tons in total, including food and medical supplies.
The supplies, to be delivered to Gazans through the Israeli crossings Kerem Shalom and Nahal Oz, and will be distributed by the UN, WHO and UNRWA.
The supplies include 27 tons of meat delivered from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 tons of flour from the French society of millers, six tons of medical supplies and clothes from the municipalities of southern France.
The second French plane in a week arrived in Tel Aviv Saturday, delivering 55 tons of aid for the people of Gaza.
The French have sent more than 91 tons in total, including food and medical supplies.
The supplies, to be delivered to Gazans through the Israeli crossings Kerem Shalom and Nahal Oz, and will be distributed by the UN, WHO and UNRWA.
The supplies include 27 tons of meat delivered from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 tons of flour from the French society of millers, six tons of medical supplies and clothes from the municipalities of southern France.
More than 200 Palestinian political and civil society leaders and scholars signed a petition stating their position as with the Palestinian resistance and with the people of Gaza who are still under Israeli fire.
The document went further and rejected the actions of the Palestinian Authority in repressing the demonstrations against the Israeli actions in Gaza. The PA has stationed police and Special Forces at gathering sites around the West Bank every Friday since the Gaza invasion began.
Those who signed the document affirmed that it is not the acts of the Palestinian resistance that is hurting Gazan citizens, but rather the Israeli occupation and silence from all parties. The document condemned the strategy of blaming Israel's victim for the crimes of the aggressor.
The document called for the formation of an international investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Mustafa Al-Barghuthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative and founder of the document, said in a Ramallah press conference on Saturday that the document "is a joint vision affirming the right of the Palestinians in resisting."
He called for the formation of a national leadership based on the principal of resistance and national struggle. He criticized the PA for the mistakes it made during the Israeli war on Gaza, particularly for not attending the Doha summit.
Some of the over 200 who signed the document were:
Mamduh Al-A'kar
Mustafa Al-Barghuthi
Shafiq Al-Hut
Sullieman Abu Seta
Bilal Al-Hasan
Archbishop Attallah Hana
George Jaqaman
Kamel Qustandi
Khaleel Tuma
Ziad Darweesh
Sari Hanafi
The document went further and rejected the actions of the Palestinian Authority in repressing the demonstrations against the Israeli actions in Gaza. The PA has stationed police and Special Forces at gathering sites around the West Bank every Friday since the Gaza invasion began.
Those who signed the document affirmed that it is not the acts of the Palestinian resistance that is hurting Gazan citizens, but rather the Israeli occupation and silence from all parties. The document condemned the strategy of blaming Israel's victim for the crimes of the aggressor.
The document called for the formation of an international investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Mustafa Al-Barghuthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative and founder of the document, said in a Ramallah press conference on Saturday that the document "is a joint vision affirming the right of the Palestinians in resisting."
He called for the formation of a national leadership based on the principal of resistance and national struggle. He criticized the PA for the mistakes it made during the Israeli war on Gaza, particularly for not attending the Doha summit.
Some of the over 200 who signed the document were:
Mamduh Al-A'kar
Mustafa Al-Barghuthi
Shafiq Al-Hut
Sullieman Abu Seta
Bilal Al-Hasan
Archbishop Attallah Hana
George Jaqaman
Kamel Qustandi
Khaleel Tuma
Ziad Darweesh
Sari Hanafi
Egyptian officials invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy to Cairo for talks on strategies to end the attacks on Gaza, according to The Egyptian news agency Ash-Shahrq- Al-Awsat on Saturday.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will host the talks, to which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has also been invited. They are scheduled to take place Sunday.
Cairo is set to host leaders from around the globe, according to several western diplomats, including Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) ambassador to Egypt Nabil Amr said the talks between Abbas and Mubarak aim at securing an immediate halt to the military action.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will host the talks, to which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has also been invited. They are scheduled to take place Sunday.
Cairo is set to host leaders from around the globe, according to several western diplomats, including Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) ambassador to Egypt Nabil Amr said the talks between Abbas and Mubarak aim at securing an immediate halt to the military action.
The embers of Tel Al-Hawa continue to burn. The smoke from the fire and concrete dust cloud the air, and carry the thick smell of burning and rotting bodies.
This street, up until Thursday was one of the most luxurious streets in Gaza City, built by the Palestinian Authority in the late 1990s.
Rather than flowers, glittering glass and stone a walk through Tel Al-Hawa two days after the Israeli invasion into the area, burnt cars with burned bodies, half demolished apartment towers and torn up roads are what greet passersby. The hospital is where most residents call home now.
Ma'an visited the destroyed neighborhood, and asked about the burned car at the main street's entrance. A former resident told reporters that the car was owned by Oday Salameh Haddad. He was in his car fleeing the area after hours of Israeli tank fire and troops running home to home. He got in his car with his wife Husna, 45, his son Hatem, 21, and his daughter Aya, 15.
An Israeli tank fired on the car, killing all four. The burned car still sits in the center of the road.
Another hundred meters down the road are the Red Crescent buildings and the Al-Quds Hospital. The hospital was shelled during Israel's 24-hour incursion into the residential neighborhood. The compound is also still smoking, mostly from the administration entrance and the adjacent pharmacy, and some sections are in ruins.
Many of the ambulances in the yard are damaged; the ones that survived the attacks were transferred to other hospitals or out in the field collecting the newest dead.
Israeli troops were stationed at the former Niztarim settlement south of Gaza City's newest neighborhood. The tanks and armored vehicles advanced quickly to the outskirts of Tel Al-Hawa. They entered after midnight on Thursday morning and did not leave until just before sun-up on Friday.
First there were a series of airstrikes, then the tanks moved in, then the ground troops moved home to home, breaking through walls avoiding exposure in the streets.
Meanwhile families heard the noises. They knew troops had been massing in the nearby evacuated settlement, and tanks had approached and withdrawn several nights in a row. Many had already fled the area; others had nowhere else to go.
Troops had not yet penetrated the densely populated neighborhoods of Gaza City, many refused to believe they would. As gunfire sounds became louder and more frequent, many families fled.
Witnesses also reported that Israeli soldiers invaded residential buildings, ordering locals to leave. Hundreds fled to other parts of the city.
Fadel Al-Batran and his 19-year-old daughter Hanin were gunned down as they fled their home.
Eighteen year-old Muhammad Majed Husein,
19-year-old Tha'er Suhel Ali Hassan,
42-year-old Fathi Dawoud Al-Qarm,
12-year-old Tafileh Esmat and his cousin
Ala, also 12-years-old,
were all killed in the streets as they fled the advancing troops.
Fifteen-year-old Muhamad AJ-Jojo did not make it out of his home, and was crushed by falling concrete after an Israeli tank fired on the building.
Many of those who fled their homes sought shelter in mosques and school buildings. Israeli fire hit two of the neighborhoods mosques, the Balqis Girl's School and the Rosary Girls' School.
Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers abducted several non-combatant residents of the neighborhood, and took them with the withdrawing force.
When the troops finally withdrew, the bodies of ten Palestinian fighters were found in the streets and the debris,
Hussam Al-Jam'asy, 35
Rebhi Shuhebar, 25
Medhat Abed, 24
Hamdi Ibrahim Al-Banna, 23
Farid Al-Helo, 23
Mu'taz Abdel Muttaleb Dahman, 21
Tamer Faza, 20
Na'im Hamadeh, 20
Mahmoud Abu Salim, 19
Ammar Farawneh, 18
Some families have returned to their homes after spending crowded nights with relatives, or anyone who would house them, other only returned to collect some belongings and will remain in schools or UN shelters.
The Issam home in west-central Gaza City provided safety to some of the Tel Al-Hawa residents. More than 20 children and their parents from four families sought refuge in the small building. One family, who only knew Mr Issam from frequenting his shop, arrived on the doorstep in their pajamas. They stayed for a day and a half until the sounds of gunfire stopped, then left, though they did not say for where.
This street, up until Thursday was one of the most luxurious streets in Gaza City, built by the Palestinian Authority in the late 1990s.
Rather than flowers, glittering glass and stone a walk through Tel Al-Hawa two days after the Israeli invasion into the area, burnt cars with burned bodies, half demolished apartment towers and torn up roads are what greet passersby. The hospital is where most residents call home now.
Ma'an visited the destroyed neighborhood, and asked about the burned car at the main street's entrance. A former resident told reporters that the car was owned by Oday Salameh Haddad. He was in his car fleeing the area after hours of Israeli tank fire and troops running home to home. He got in his car with his wife Husna, 45, his son Hatem, 21, and his daughter Aya, 15.
An Israeli tank fired on the car, killing all four. The burned car still sits in the center of the road.
Another hundred meters down the road are the Red Crescent buildings and the Al-Quds Hospital. The hospital was shelled during Israel's 24-hour incursion into the residential neighborhood. The compound is also still smoking, mostly from the administration entrance and the adjacent pharmacy, and some sections are in ruins.
Many of the ambulances in the yard are damaged; the ones that survived the attacks were transferred to other hospitals or out in the field collecting the newest dead.
Israeli troops were stationed at the former Niztarim settlement south of Gaza City's newest neighborhood. The tanks and armored vehicles advanced quickly to the outskirts of Tel Al-Hawa. They entered after midnight on Thursday morning and did not leave until just before sun-up on Friday.
First there were a series of airstrikes, then the tanks moved in, then the ground troops moved home to home, breaking through walls avoiding exposure in the streets.
Meanwhile families heard the noises. They knew troops had been massing in the nearby evacuated settlement, and tanks had approached and withdrawn several nights in a row. Many had already fled the area; others had nowhere else to go.
Troops had not yet penetrated the densely populated neighborhoods of Gaza City, many refused to believe they would. As gunfire sounds became louder and more frequent, many families fled.
Witnesses also reported that Israeli soldiers invaded residential buildings, ordering locals to leave. Hundreds fled to other parts of the city.
Fadel Al-Batran and his 19-year-old daughter Hanin were gunned down as they fled their home.
Eighteen year-old Muhammad Majed Husein,
19-year-old Tha'er Suhel Ali Hassan,
42-year-old Fathi Dawoud Al-Qarm,
12-year-old Tafileh Esmat and his cousin
Ala, also 12-years-old,
were all killed in the streets as they fled the advancing troops.
Fifteen-year-old Muhamad AJ-Jojo did not make it out of his home, and was crushed by falling concrete after an Israeli tank fired on the building.
Many of those who fled their homes sought shelter in mosques and school buildings. Israeli fire hit two of the neighborhoods mosques, the Balqis Girl's School and the Rosary Girls' School.
Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers abducted several non-combatant residents of the neighborhood, and took them with the withdrawing force.
When the troops finally withdrew, the bodies of ten Palestinian fighters were found in the streets and the debris,
Hussam Al-Jam'asy, 35
Rebhi Shuhebar, 25
Medhat Abed, 24
Hamdi Ibrahim Al-Banna, 23
Farid Al-Helo, 23
Mu'taz Abdel Muttaleb Dahman, 21
Tamer Faza, 20
Na'im Hamadeh, 20
Mahmoud Abu Salim, 19
Ammar Farawneh, 18
Some families have returned to their homes after spending crowded nights with relatives, or anyone who would house them, other only returned to collect some belongings and will remain in schools or UN shelters.
The Issam home in west-central Gaza City provided safety to some of the Tel Al-Hawa residents. More than 20 children and their parents from four families sought refuge in the small building. One family, who only knew Mr Issam from frequenting his shop, arrived on the doorstep in their pajamas. They stayed for a day and a half until the sounds of gunfire stopped, then left, though they did not say for where.
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