CAIRO: Death, injuries and trauma have not managed to diffuse Palestinian desire to stand firm in the face of the Israeli operations against Gaza, now into its second week and a death tally of 760 with over 3,000 wounded.
Thirty-six wounded Palestinians currently receiving treatment at Cairo’s Nasser Medical Institute appear unequivocal in their stance: Israel can do its worst but the people of Gaza will continue to hold on in face of the onslaught.
The peaceful setting of the hospital with its green walkways and Nile view is a far cry from the decimation of Gaza, yet the Palestinians who have been transported here are chomping at the bit to return to their homes, even with the continued bombings.
“I want to go back to Gaza; I want to help in resisting the Israeli attacks. I want to go home, said passport officer Hassan Ali El-Sheikh, 26, who is suffering from serious injuries to both his legs.
The majority of Palestinian patients at the hospital were wounded on the first and second days of Israel’s air operations, which began Saturday Dec. 27. They were transported from hospitals in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing to hospitals in Al-Arish.
Anwar Eid El-Sahabany was injured in the street when three Israeli rockets hit his neighborhood of Sabra in Gaza city. He suffered major breaks to his right arm and left leg and was taken to Al-Hilal hospital.
“We weren’t expecting anything, no one was aware, especially as it was a Saturday [the Jewish Sabbath], he said, “if anything we thought it might be on a Sunday. School children died beside me.
El-Sheikh said, “I saw a rocket hit and a young man was thrown into the air. I checked on him and his chest was open, his stomach was open and his head was like minced meat.
Many people were milling about the hospital from various local charities donating aid to the Palestinians. A group of women were giving out envelopes with money, one was crying as she handed El-Sheikh an envelope.
“Don’t cry sister; please do not cry, he said, “we will overcome this.
Mohamed Atallah, 19, was sitting right outside his home when Israeli F-16s started shelling on the first day of the attacks. He blacked out but regained consciousness in the hospital only to realize that his niece had been killed in the same attack. He was suffering from multiple internal hemorrhages and was operated on at the Nasser Medical Institute.
“What is there to say? There is nothing to say, there are no words, was all Atallah could utter.
Hedayat Hassan Shaker, the only female Palestinian being treated at the Institute, was cooking breakfast for her children when she heard the shelling on the second day of the aerial offensive, her home was struck and she was injured in both legs, suffering both fractures and nerve injuries. Her children were also slightly injured.
“My children were taken to Dar Al-Shifa’ hospital as their situation was not as severe as mine and I was taken to Egypt. My children are fine now and they are with my sister in Gaza, she said.
Fallah Hassouna, a 41-year-old Palestinian, was injured by Israeli shelling at Al-Tofah neighborhood that also witnessed a serious onslaught late Thursday, Dec. 28, the second day of attacks.
His cousin Maher said, “We were sitting down and we heard aircraft, we didn’t suspect that this would happen. Then we saw shots coming from the Israeli planes in the air and in three minutes there were around 50 dead people.
Fallah was taken to Dar El Shifa’ hospital in Gaza and the Red Crescent transported him to the Rafah crossing.
“The bombings targeted schools and places where the government institutions are located as well as mosques, Maher Hassouna said. All those places also included Palestinian citizens and not just government authorities, he added.
Asked whether there were buildings affiliated to Hamas he responded, “There is no such thing as Hamas or Fatah; these were national government buildings for the people of Gaza. And don’t say a mosque belongs to Hamas; it is a house of God. They are public property.
Hamas, resistance and living under siege
Israel believes that if things are bad enough in Gaza, whether through blockade or strikes, that would motivate the people of Gaza to overthrow their Hamas rulers. In leaflets the Israeli air force spreads before bombing locations in Gaza, it is explicitly stated that Hamas is the reason for where the Gazans find themselves, namely under Israeli fire.
Talking to the wounded Palestinians at the Institute, however, proves that the opposite is true, that Israeli blockades and strikes are making Hamas more popular in the Strip.
“This has nothing to do with Hamas in Gaza. When you kill a little girl, what does that have to do with Hamas? In Gaza we don’t say are you from Hamas or Fatah, these are issues in the media, not amongst us, El-Sahabany said.
“Israel hit the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat. Israel occupies us, not the other way round and its policy is to exterminate all in Gaza but by the grace of God not a single one of them will even be able to urinate in Gaza. We will not surrender and we will resist to our last breaths, he added.
El-Sheikh said that such transgressions have always occurred against the Palestinians, even before Hamas came into being and wondered what the world expected them to do, when they are constantly under attack and not allowed to resist.
“The Palestinian cause can be solved if [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas steps down along with his group, [Prime Minister Salam] Fayyad and [Fatah leader in Gaza Mohamed] Dahlan. They must leave power because they are Zionist agents, he said. Though he added that he did not think the entire Fatah movement was the problem but “this gang only.
El-Sheikh’s family members who were sitting beside his bed agreed with him and Mohamed Beshir, a relative of his, said that Hamas throughout the past two years was able to provide them with security and services that nobody else gave them in the 12 years before that.
El-Sheikh and his family voted for Hamas and stated they will vote for them again, putting to bed the Israeli belief that they can turn Gazans against Hamas with the blockade.
Hussain said, “No matter how much they bomb us we will hold on and stay patient and will be victorious through the grace of God.
Despite the bravado, it was still apparent that life under siege had taken its toll on the inhabitants of Gaza.
“This is our land, said Shaker, “and I must return to it and to my children. I have kids, they need food. We need gas and electricity and water. They have no one but me; I’m just trying to raise my children.
The idea of bringing her children to Egypt does not appeal to her. “I want to go back to them in Gaza, she said. Shaker also said she knew “nothing about the internal struggle in Palestine and has never voted in any elections or participated in anything related to politics.
“All I want to do is to afford a good living for myself and my orphaned children, she said. She added that she has suffered tremendously from the Israeli economic blockade on Gaza. “We have no electricity, and no food. We do not even have wood to make a fire. We only eat bread with zaatar [oregano], or any type of seeds available, she said.
However, not all Gazans at the Institute were of similar minds. Mostafa, the father of 13-year-old-Alaa’, one of the injured Palestinians in the hospital, said he supported the Fatah strategy and believed that “Hamas has brought disasters to its citizens . what type of government brings destruction to its citizens? he asked.
Mostafa, a pharmacist, said that he had voted for Fatah in the past elections and believed in the strategy of both the current Palestinian and Egyptian presidents in dealing with Israel, “through negotiations.
He added that his son was injured on the second day of strikes yet he was not able to take him to the Egyptian borders on Sunday because “the borders were closed on that day when our late dear brother Yasser, [referring to the Egyptian police office Yasser Farag who was shot by the P
alestinians near the Salah Eldin gate], died. But we were able to cross the borders on Monday.
“My son was on his way to school on Monday [the third day of aerial attacks] where he discovered that there are protests and there will be no school. On his way back he was bombed in front of a police station, Mostafa said.
Injuries
Only 36 Palestinian causalities have been admitted to the Nasser Medical Institute since the Israeli attacks, according to Dr Bahaa Abou Zeid, president of Nasser Medical Institute.
Of the 36 patients, one died and three have already been released. The patient who died “came in on a ventilator from Gaza and his heart stopped several times on the way, he had injuries in several places, he said.
According to Abou Zeid, the majority of the cases received were bone injuries, and related muscle and nerve injuries. “We call them war injuries, because they are the results of shelling and many bomb fragments are found in the torso. Many have multiple injuries, so you will find someone who is partially dismembered or suffering from spinal injury, he added.
The Institute is equipped to take up to 900 patients and has the capacity to host up to 100 Palestinian patients according to Abou Zeid
