GAZA: The emergency room at Shifa Hospital is never calm but on Thursday, the 13th day of Israel's assault on Gaza, it was a scene of gore and despair and a lesson in the way ordinary people are squeezed between suicidal fighters and a vengeful military behemoth.

Dr. Awni al-Jaru, 37, a surgeon at the hospital, rushed in from his home in the Gaza City neighborhood of Toufah, dressed in his scrubs. But he came not to work. His head was bleeding and his daughter's jaw was broken.

Hamas militants, he said, next to his apartment building had fired mortar and rocket rounds. Israel fired back with enormous power, and his apartment was hit. His wife, Albina, originally from Ukraine, was killed, as was his 1-year-old son.

"My son has been turned into pieces," he cried. "My wife was cut in half. I had to leave her body at home." Since Albina was a foreigner, she could have left Gaza in recent days with her children. But, Jaru lamented, she refused, saying she would not leave her husband.

Within minutes, another car pulled up containing four more patients.


Israelis honor fallen soldiers, while seeing Gaza campaign as One of them was a 21-year-old man with shrapnel in his left leg demanding quick treatment. He turned out to be a militant with Islamic Jihad. He was smiling a big smile.

"Hurry, I must get back so I can keep fighting," he told the doctors and anyone else who would listen.

He was told there were more serious cases than his and he needed to wait his turn. But he insisted. "We are fighting the Israelis," he said. "When we fire we run but they hit back so fast. We run into the houses to get away." He continued smiling.

"Why are you so happy?" someone asked. "Look around you. Don't you see the misery that you are helping to cause?"

A girl who was maybe 18 was screaming from pain as a surgeon removed shrapnel from her leg. An elderly man was soaked in blood. A child who was a few weeks old and slightly injured was looking around helplessly. A man with a head injury had parts of his brain coming out. He was on a stretcher and his family was wailing at his side.

"Don't you see that these people are hurting?" he was asked.

"But I am from the people too," he said, his smile incandescent. "They lost their loved ones as martyrs. They should be happy. I want to be a martyr too."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/08/africa/09fighter.php

Just more proof that religion makes you crazy

Hamas militants, he said, next to his apartment building had fired mortar and rocket rounds. Israel fired back with enormous power, and his apartment was hit. His wife, Albina, originally from Ukraine, was killed, as was his 1-year-old son.


The fourth Geneva Convention (1949) and two Additional Protocols (1977) belatedly extended protection to civilians during wartime -

* Civilians are not to be subject to attack. This includes direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks against areas in which civilians are present.


Hamas may hide among civilians but IDF are no better for using the amount of HE in civilian areas that they do.

it will never end.

true about the never-ending status.


these conflicts go back many hundreds of years.

The Israeli attacks are not indiscriminate as they target soldiers who are engaging them. The Israelis have an obligation to defend themselves and their citizens even when Hamas operates from civilian areas

Darn, that house was in the way????

Target those engaging them??

So the use of missiles, artillery on an apartment building in a civilian area, leveling it and causing damage to surrounding area as well is 'targeted' at the one apartment where fire was coming from? It is 'indiscriminate fire'.