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FROM THE FIELD

'We are all scared. My youngest daughter is panicked ... none of us sleep properly'
30 Dec 2008 16:23:00 GMT
 Source: Save the Children UK
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•  Israeli-Palestinian conflict

•  Food and hunger

•  Children

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Salwa El Tibi, Save the Children UK's Gaza programme manager, is in the Gaza Strip with her four children aged seven, 14, 15 and 19

The situation is terrible. We haven't been out of our home since the bombing started on Saturday. We hear the F16s coming in and the bombs fall. The Apache helicopters are precise but the F16 fighters cause widespread damage to buildings around their targets. It goes on day and night.

We are all scared. My youngest daughter is panicked, talking in an agitated voice and has started to wet the bed. None of us are sleeping properly.

We have to keep all the doors and the windows of our home open otherwise they could get blown in by the bombs. That means it is very cold. We have long periods without electricity. The children are complaining.

I stocked up on food because we expected an attack and have enough for another three days or so. After that I don't know. I might be able to get to the market but many bakeries have stopped producing bread because there is a severe shortage of flour. We are living from day to day.

There is no milk available for children. Shortages of essential drugs for children also mean that they are not getting the health care they need.

The television is full of stories about children being killed and families destroyed. It is really very sad. They are all traumatised.

There is no escape for them or for their families. The air strikes began just as children were leaving school, exposing them to horrific scenes of violence. They just want to be like children in other countries.

Save the Children has lots of food parcels for families in desperate need, but we cannot distribute them until the bombing stops.

I don't know how we got into this situation but my message to the Israeli government is to stop what is going on. Negotiation is the best way. I request world leaders stop what is going on. Killing people will not help.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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