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People in Palestine have to endure a new hell every day and have faced life-threatening conditions in Gaza and even in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since October 7.
This includes journalists, medics, and first responders, who are civilian heroes on the front lines and face such danger every day.
Here are some examples:
Two days ago, on December 26, five journalists were murdered, and their bodies were burned after the Israeli Death Forces (IDF) targeted their broadcast vehicle near Al-Awda Hospital in Al-Nuseirat Camp, Central Gaza.
The martyred journalists were:
The IDF's reason for murdering them was that they were broadcasting "enemy propaganda." This is a cowardly and barbaric act! If that is not terrorism, I do not know what is. This raises the number of journalists killed by the IDF to over 200 since the beginning of the war on October 7. I should note here that the wife of Ayman al Gedi gave birth to their firstborn child as an orphan. It would be devastating for this orphaned child to remember that his dad was martyred on his birthday and before he could see him. Not one single call of condemnation or protest by any of the cowardly Western media or officials.
Support for Palestine from people in the US and the EU is a morale booster:
Young journalist Doaa J Rouqa from Gaza City has another heart-wrenching story. She has not seen her family for the last 444 days except via Facetime. She now lives and reports from Southern Gaza, where she lives less than 15 miles from her family. This young lady is fearless and has a heart like a lioness.
On December 4, the IDF bombed the home of well-known journalist Anas Al-Sharif in Jabalia, who works for Al Jazeera TV. He was not home, but his father was. Anas' father was martyred while performing his afternoon prayers, and their home was destroyed.
Today, on December 28, Palestinian journalist Shatha Sabbah was shot dead amid ongoing attacks by Moshe Abbas' (PA) Gestapo-style security forces against freedom fighters in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Middle East Eye reported that several Palestinian news outlets have said that a sniper from the PA's security forces killed Sabbah. The PA denied responsibility but condemned Shatha's murder. Shatha was the sister of martyr Motasem Sabbah.
On December 5, 2024, Moshe Abbas' security forces began a large-scale operation in the West Bank city of Jenin against the Jenin Brigades, a local Palestinian militia. The PA has called it "Operation Protect the Homeland" and said it was launched in order to eradicate "pro-Iranian criminal thugs" in the West Bank. Abbas' Gestapo-style forces act as subservient to the Israeli occupation and are known among Palestinians as "the occupation's guard dogs." All I can say is, spread Moshe Abbas's shame!
Gaza detainees at a notorious camp report being handcuffed while sleeping, eating, and using the bathroom (The Ugly Truth, Dec. 25, 2024). Middle East Eye.
Israeli authorities are accused of torturing Palestinians at the Ofer detention camp, which was established during the ongoing war to hold detainees from Gaza. A new report has revealed the facility's brutal and inhumane conditions. According to 19 testimonies given to +972 and local call, the site has witnessed torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees. Rami, a former Palestinian detainee at Ofer, described the facility as brutal.
"I was severely tortured," Rami said. "We were forced to kneel with our hands tied from sunrise until midnight. Guards beat us on every part of our bodies. I was given electric shocks every two days." He added, "The torture was carried out against all inmates without exceptions."
"All detainees at Ofer were tortured, beaten, and humiliated. We received food only once a day." Those held at the camp are classified as "unlawful combatants" and do not enjoy due process. They are charged with supporting terrorism and are held indefinitely, according to the Ugly Truth news site.
As Christians around the world celebrated the birthday of their favorite Palestinian, Israeli occupation forces have forcibly displaced Christian couple Abu Asaad and his wife from their home. They are now celebrating Christmas in their tent in the Al Mawasi area, a makeshift tent camp where thousands of Palestinians live in squalid conditions. When asked about it by a journalist, the IOF spokesman denied there were Christians or churches in Gaza, which I find repulsive and infuriating.
The infant Sila Mahmoud Al-Faseeh passed away due to the bitter cold weather inside her tent in Mawasi, Khan Younis. Her body was completely stiff from the cold when her father found her. Photo credit: Gaza Notification Twitter account.
As of today, Mondoweiss has reported that Israel has killed 17,400 children in Gaza.With no clean water, sanitation, medicine, or food, children are hit hardest in Gaza. On December 25, The Ugly Truth reported on the story of three-week-old infant Sila Mahmoud Al-Faseeh, who died of hypothermia in the morgue of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Three more children were reported frozen to death in Rafah.
As if that wasn't enough, tents of internally displaced Palestinians (IDPs) were torn apart by strong winds and got completely submerged in winter rains, leaving thousands of families and children stranded in the streets. My friend Rania @umyazenmo captured that horrific event by tweeting, "Because being displaced & in tents isn't bad enough, thousands of tents on the shore have been washed off by the tide!" No food, no heat, only the constant humming of drones and the nerve-wracking wait to see where the next bomb will be dropped.
Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelancer for Islamicity.com and ColumbusFreePress.com. He can be reached at [email protected].
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