Gaza Cease-Fire Allows Discovery of Appalling Death and Destruction
As the cease-fire takes hold in Gaza, there is a hope that it will be a real calm after the storm and not just the quiet eye of the hurricane passing over before the damaging fury reappears.
Israel continues to withdraw from the Gaza as the tenuous cease-fire is in its early days.
However, as the NY Times reports, "...an Israeli military spokesman, speaking in return for customary anonymity, said there was “no official basis for that report but there’s a gradual thinning of troops going on.” He declined to discuss the timetable for the withdrawal to be completed. In Gaza, residents said police officers had returned to their posts and there had been no apparent renewal of hostilities."
After 22 days of fighting, the scope of the destruction is beginning to emerge. Shell shocked Gazans are digging out their dead from the rubble.
Again from another NYTimes article: "Bombs had pulverized the Parliament and cabinet buildings, the Ministry of Justice, the main university and the police station, paralyzing Gaza’s central nervous system and leaving residents in a state of shock.
"But other areas ached with loss. In Twam to the north, thousands dragged belongings away from ruined houses; they were dazed refugees in their own city. In Zeitoun, families clawed at rubble and concrete, trying to dislodge the bodies of relatives who had died weeks before. The death toll kept climbing: 95 bodies were taken from the rubble."
As Israeli troops and Hamas fought, civilians were caught in the crossfire unable to leave or find safety during the hellish Israeli bombings.
McClatchy reports: "For civilians caught in the crossfire between Hamas militants and Israel's military, however, there's no escape to safety abroad and no sure sanctuary in Gaza. Some families have had to move repeatedly to escape the violence.
Another example of horrific inhumanity unleashed in the first decade of the 21st century.
Israel continues to withdraw from the Gaza as the tenuous cease-fire is in its early days.
However, as the NY Times reports, "...an Israeli military spokesman, speaking in return for customary anonymity, said there was “no official basis for that report but there’s a gradual thinning of troops going on.” He declined to discuss the timetable for the withdrawal to be completed. In Gaza, residents said police officers had returned to their posts and there had been no apparent renewal of hostilities."
After 22 days of fighting, the scope of the destruction is beginning to emerge. Shell shocked Gazans are digging out their dead from the rubble.
Again from another NYTimes article: "Bombs had pulverized the Parliament and cabinet buildings, the Ministry of Justice, the main university and the police station, paralyzing Gaza’s central nervous system and leaving residents in a state of shock.
"Some places in Gaza City were bustling and matter-of-fact. Work crews in bright orange vests repaired power and water lines. Shops reopened. People lined up at bank machines.
"But other areas ached with loss. In Twam to the north, thousands dragged belongings away from ruined houses; they were dazed refugees in their own city. In Zeitoun, families clawed at rubble and concrete, trying to dislodge the bodies of relatives who had died weeks before. The death toll kept climbing: 95 bodies were taken from the rubble."
As Israeli troops and Hamas fought, civilians were caught in the crossfire unable to leave or find safety during the hellish Israeli bombings.
McClatchy reports: "For civilians caught in the crossfire between Hamas militants and Israel's military, however, there's no escape to safety abroad and no sure sanctuary in Gaza. Some families have had to move repeatedly to escape the violence.
"...since Israel began pummeling Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Mohammed al Sultan's family has moved four times, from house to house, shelter to shelter, having left all their possessions behind. Now they're among hundreds of displaced Palestinians who are sleeping in cold concrete classrooms in a schoolhouse that's serving as a temporary shelter in Gaza City.
"They have no place to hide, and no place to run," said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon...."
Another example of horrific inhumanity unleashed in the first decade of the 21st century.
Comments