Gaza hospitals in horror: Burns from phosphorus bombs

Gaza hospitals in horror: Burns from phosphorus bombs

An overwhelming number of patients in the hospitals at Gaza are suffering from severe burns as a result of the use of white phosphorous bombs by the Israeli army, report ACT International contacts from Gaza City. Additionally, people that remain in areas where heavy confrontation is taking place are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being targeted by Israeli Special Forces who are shooting at anything that moves.

An overwhelming number of patients in the hospitals at Gaza are suffering from severe burns as a result of the use of white phosphorous bombs by the Israeli army, report ACT International contacts from Gaza City. Additionally, people that remain in areas where heavy confrontation is taking place are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being targeted by Israeli Special Forces who are shooting at anything that moves.

“There are no rules anymore”

It is smoke, thunder and people screaming from their balconies while Israeli tanks push deeper and deeper into Gaza City. Nobody has been able to sleep since 2 AM. Children cover their ears, mothers cry and men have stopped talking. Among them is Suhaila Tarazi, director of the Al Ahli hospital. She is not at work. She lives five minutes from the El Ahli hospital, but it is too dangerous to leave the flat. “The attacks come from all over, now”, she says. “They attack hospitals, civilians. There are no rules any more.”

UN, schools, hospitals attacked

ACT International has gotten numerous reports from witnesses and UNRWA officials in Gaza confirming that Israeli-fired shells have hit the United Nations headquarters in Gaza. Three people are said to have been wounded and due to the rising smoke it is unclear at this stage whether there are any people stuck in the building. There are fresh yet unverified reports of fires in the UN warehouse containing flour. The UN headquarters consist of UNRWA offices, a school and storage rooms with large aid supplies and fuel trucks. Additional reports say that the headquarters of the Red Crescent and its hospital housing 500 people, staff and patients have been also hit along with another building containing the offices of International media. Israeli troops are concentrated around the Tal Hawwa neighborhood in Gaza City and there are reports of crowds of people fleeing their homes.

People keep indoors

According to our sources on the ground, an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people on the periphery of the Gaza strip have moved inwards towards the cities and towns and away from the areas in which heavy fighting and bombardment is taking place. The majority of those people have fled to UNRWA schools and shelters in Gaza. Dr. Suhaila Tarazi got truckloads of medicine and blankets yesterday. “It was a blessing”, she says, “especially the blankets. For the first time our patients can get warm during the nights. All windows have been blown out during earlier attacks.”

Medical staff hit

The war also hit those who are healing the wounded. The daughter of a nurse was killed this morning. Now the family wonder how to have the girl buried. Dr. Suhaila Tarazi’s 15-year-old niece, Christina Turk, died from fear. She had an asthma attack and couldn’t breath. She died on way to her aunt’s hospital.

Another nurse could not get home to her wounded children. One of them died. “It is very, very scary here, now. I wonder if I will survive this, Dr. Suhaila Tarazi says.

Flour shortage

In the areas of Khan Younis and Qararah, there are reports of flour shortages due to difficulty of distribution, although there are enough supplies to cover the area. The cost of one kilogram of flour has almost doubled rising from 3 NIS to 5 NIS. ACT staff in Rafah and the European hospital are safe and have decided to stay together in one house. Cash availability remains extremely low, with no liquidity whatsoever and many people left with no money to purchase groceries or domestic needs. Financial institutions and banks remain closed. In major areas of Gaza, electricity is on and off throughout the day, however, the Zaytoun area which is home to 80,000 people has not had any electricity for thirteen days.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.