Palestinian family fleer their wrecked home in Rafah on a carriage. Photo: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu
Mustafa.
Our contacts on the ground convey that there has been no electricity for over a week and as a result the water pumps that are used to pump water into households are not
functioning and the sewage networks are flooding. Power soonIn talks with Dr. Suhail Madbak, who is the dean of the medical school at Al Azhar University in Gaza and a
member of the Board of DSPR Gaza, the top priority is the restoration of electricity to the deprived areas. There are apparent efforts by some foreign contractors to work on the damaged cables under
the supervision of the Israeli military. It is expected that some areas will be receiving electricity in the next 48 hours. Soldiers occupy people's homesThe bombardment
of Gaza is widespread as the Israeli army has divided the Strip into four different military zones with movement virtually impossible and the local residents are feeling unsafe about leaving their
homes. Reports are coming in of ambulances and medics being targeted by the Israeli soldiers, especially while trying to tend to the wounded in the streets where the heaviest confrontations are taking
place. In some instances, Israeli infantry have broken into several homes and have forced the residents to gather in one room on the bottom floor, while taking positions on the second floor and making
holes in the walls for sniper rifles and binoculars. Three hours restThe resting time for the Gaza residents is from 13:00 - 16:00, which is the three hour time period
when attacks are halted.
People are using this time of quiet to shop for food and water, although queues are extremely long reaching up to 400 meters particularly at bakeries, and there is a shortage
in necessities such as wheat and flour. Many of the people are using this period to sleep as it is the only time of the day when there are no sounds of bombardment or shelling. According to our
contacts, when an Israeli strike hits a particular target, all the adjacent buildings shake and in some instances the window glass is shattered, leaving many civilians unprotected from the cold or the
sound of bombardment. Clinics on the frontlineContact between the office in Jerusalem and that in Gaza is ongoing since the first day of the Israeli attacks. For DSPR
Gaza the three clinics for family health have operated on and off since the first day of the attack. At the moment all three clinics, one in Rafah and two in the Eastern and North Western parts of
Gaza city are closed since they are in areas where military activities are ongoing. Accordingly, access to the clinics is virtually impossible although the plan was for these clinics to serve as
emergency clinics for the casualties of the war. As soon as a semblance of normalcy is attained and military activities do not threaten the lives of patients and medical staff, the clinics will be
reopened to receive both emergency and primary health care patients. The medical committee of the Gaza DSPR continues to exchange and consult with each other on the situation and takes decisions
appropriate to the moment. ACT ForumThe offices of DSPR Gaza are open and operating but on a restricted staffing as many of our employees and staff members cannot make it
due to the ongoing military activities. ACT Forum Palestine has been engaging the Gaza DSPR and other ACT Forum members in a variety of discussions on the needs and the means to help whether through
shipment of medications and food supplements or in other ways.
By ACT International
Zack Sabella with the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) of the Middle East Council
of Churches prepared this bulletin. DSPR is a member of ACT International.
This situation report was produced by the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) of the Middle East
Council of Churches.
ACT International
will continue to give regular updates on the situation in Gaza and inform about the ACT response.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Activists from Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) shout slogans and burn an effigy representing U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a protest against the ...
