The children of Israel's war, and a "seize" fire

My mother-a pediatrician- spent the day yesterday visiting the child victims of Israel's war on Gaza. She distributed some toys bought with donations to try and bring some smile to their destroyed lives.

My father took these pictures of the children, as well as of ambulances hit by Israeli shells and shrapnel.

They spent what they told me was the most terrorizing night of the past two weeks yesterday- missiles destroying buildings around their house, lighting apartments and towers on fire.

He sent me a brief email around dawn, in terrifying clarity it read:

Loved ones :
I thought to take few moments on the generator to write this email to you, It might be our last communication. The Israeli army has been heavily bombarding everything in GAZA now. They escalated their attack intensively after 4 AM. Tal El-Hawa is on fire ( I will attach photos that I took of smoke from burning buildings), they just fired a missile on one apartment in a huge apartment building in front of our house ( Borj Al-Shorook) I guess Laila knows it. Phosphorus bombs now are fired everywhere on houses and on people. UNRWA's main stores in GAZA were hit.
Hundreds of people are trapped in burning buildings in Tal El-Hawa and Al-Sabra and everywhere in GAZA. It is clear now that these people decided now to finish everyone and everything in GAZA strip. I still have faith in Allah.







This late evening as I write this post, and we hear word of Israel unilaterally ending its offensive- on its own terms-a sinister action in the cloak of benevolence; such a ceasefire (or "seize fire" as an Israeli journalist friend of mine unintentionally put it) would allow the suffocating siege of Gaza to stay in play, and allow the occupation army to re-enter and re-attack at any moment of their choosing. There is also word of a curious Israel and US signing an agreement to help Egypt end "smuggling on Gaza's border" without any involvement of the people who the border surrounds (not to mention the solar technology already exists for spotting the tunnels; or the fact that new tunnels will continue to pop up as a gateway to the outside world and a means of subsistence for the people of Gaza as long as the siege is in place and Gazais blockaded).

And as the dust settles and death-drenched streets quiver back to life, it remains to be asked: what has this accomplished exactly? Do Israel's feel safer now, knowing they have eliminated over a thousand Palestinian lives; maimed tens of thousands; and destroyed the rest?

Medics also say a woman and child have been killed in (another) Israeli raid on UN-run school in thte northern Gaza Strip. Eleven other people are wounded. But who's to stop them?

Earlier, in Jabaliya, a mother and her 5 children- all under the age of 13- were completely eliminated as they huddled together for shelter. THese are the victims of Israel's question for a new equation. They are the factors that are included in the calculation. Very clinical, very clean, very defensive.

And here, an account of a family whose son was killed while they enjoyed a brief respite from the onslaught- only to be sniped to death and used for target practice by Israeli soldiers.