International Solidarity Movement (ISM) Update 7/16/14 — After a night of heavy shelling in the area, the day is dawning in Gaza. The clock ticks pass 08:00; past the evacuation time the Israeli military gave to el-Wafa hospital the previous evening.
The patients were not evacuated; there is nowhere for them to go. The entire Shajajia area where the hospital is located, with a population of around 100,000 inhabitants, has also been ordered to evacuate, as well as other areas around the Gaza Strip. For so many people to move to other areas cannot be done, and without shelter they can only rely on God and their luck.
During the night’s bombardment, when el-Wafa hospital shook several times with explosions, suspicions were raised that the hospital had been hit. In fact, the building close by, el-Wafa Elderly Nursing Home was shelled by the Israeli military.
The upper part of the Nursing Home was peppered with machine gun fire and non-explosive grenades penetrated the concrete walls.
Lying on the floor lay the used grenades, business cards from the world’s “most moral” army.
The news that gradually circulates tells the story of a violent night in Gaza, with Israeli air strikes across the Strip. The number of deaths has now risen to over 200, higher than the death toll of the last war two years ago. From a window in el-Wafa hospital, the characteristic clouds of smoke, sand, and dust rise towards the sky.
See: ISM Update — Gaza Report: War Against Civilians
International Peace Volunteers Remain in Hospital Threatened by Israeli Missiles
Photos at ISM, via link below.
