As Palestinians eagerly await a break from Israeli bombing, here’s the Middle East this week.
The people of Gaza are exhausted and would like to sleep soundly, be warm, search for missing loved ones, maybe play outside and maybe go see what’s left of their home. As Palestinians eagerly await a break from Israeli bombing, we look to the Middle East this week:
“We want to mourn”
Hoping to avoid bombs while searching for enough food to keep one’s family alive for another day has been the reality for Gaza’s population for more than six weeks.
Today, people who spoke to Tel Aviv Tribune said they hope a “humanitarian pause” in Israeli bombing, brokered by Qatar, will give them a chance to return to some semblance of normalcy, even if not It’s only for a few days.
A captive exchange is planned during the break, with families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails anxiously waiting to learn whether their loved ones will be among the 150 prisoners released by Israel.
Fidaa, for her part, is busy tidying up her house in the hope that her son, Ubai, can be among the women and children released from Israeli prisons. She is preparing her favorite meal.
A war on hospitals
As Israel intensifies its attacks on Gaza ahead of the “humanitarian pause”, it continues to target hospitals.
Its repeated claim since the start of its attack on Gaza is that Hamas has a tunnel and command bunker under the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital, al-Shifa. But when Israeli forces took control of the hospital, what they showed the world was disappointing.
Earlier in the week, rare good news came when 31 premature babies in critical condition were evacuated from Gaza and taken to Egypt. Their lives were put in danger by the loss of electricity at al-Shifa hospital due to the conflict.
Many have asked why Israel would target hospitals, and experts told us the answer is obvious: psychological operations.
But this has not intimidated the doctors who work for entire days without sleeping to save as many people as possible.
Nor people like Jawdat Sami al-Madhoun, who is not a doctor, but someone who only studied nursing for a year and a half. He worked 25 days without a break in al-Shifa to feel like he was doing something.
Who benefits most from a break?
Our strategic analyst looked at both sides of the Gaza conflict, trying to determine who would benefit most from a pause, and came to an interesting conclusion: Israel would benefit more.
And although many have claimed that Hamas would use a pause to regroup, Zoran Kusovac tells us that is not the case.
Heroes, hunger and messages for a younger generation
Gaza residents survive on less than 10 percent of the humanitarian aid they received before Israel imposed a complete siege on the territory.
Communications have also come and gone, with each power outage spreading fear among those outside Gaza trying to monitor their families, and those inside the Gaza Strip who cannot know what is happening. one block away. Enter the heroes of PalTel, who risk their lives for every service call.
Finally, our correspondent Maram Humaid, who fled Gaza City for Deir el-Balah with her family, shared with us a letter she wrote to her three-month-old son and one-month-old nephew, their recounting his dreams for their future and his fears that they will never come true.
Something different
What do the keffiyeh, watermelon and other Palestinian symbols mean?
Briefly
Quote of the week
“He doesn’t know he lost his legs. He constantly asks to go out for a walk… He is in a lot of pain and the hospital only has Acamol (paracetamol), which you take if you have a headache, not if you have lost both legs.” | Ibrahim Abu Amsheh, the uncle of 3-year-old Ahmad Ibrahim, who lost his family and then his legs to Israeli bombings.