The IMEU presents a selection of first-hand accounts from on the ground in Gaza from the international media.

Sami Abdel Shafi, management consultant
Gaza City
Al Jazeera, Jan 9, 2009


"People spend almost 24-hours a day indoors, listening to the news on the radio - if they have batteries. Gaza's streets are empty day and night. Just a handful of places are open, otherwise Gaza City is closed. People spend as little time as possible outside as they don't trust the daily three-hour "ceasefire" as a true truce, particularly when the skies above them are filled with the continuous humming of Israeli jets and drones. On top of that, people have heard reports of the raids, shootings and killings that have taken place in the three-hour "ceasefire". When people do dare venture out, it's to look for food, batteries and vegetables, although even basics like tomatoes and bread are tough to come by."

---

Fares Akram, journalist
Gaza City
The Independent, January 7, 2009


"Things are getting worse by the day. The streets here in Gaza City have been empty. It's dangerous to go on the balcony but if you risk looking out you can see columns of black smoke rising from the north. The sound of automatic machine gun fire from the Apache helicopters I find most terrifying. Overnight, it seems the Israeli tanks progressed further into Gaza, and now we've heard about the tank shelling at a UN school in Jabalya camp killing more than 30 people. I found out about that when the electricity resumed for a short time in the evening and I was able to get online. I'm appalled but not surprised: if you have tanks on high ground to the east of Jabalya firing down on such a densely populated area, this kind of bloodshed can be expected."

---

Dr. Akram Habeeb, Assistant Professor of American Literature at the Islamic University
Gaza City
The Electronic Intifada, January 1, 2009


"Unlike other people in the world, Gazans counted down the last seconds of 2008 anticipating the next Israeli air attack, shelling by tank, or the launch of a missile from warships crouching just offshore. Many of our children thought the flashing explosions were fireworks with which the Israeli military wanted them to mark the advent of the New Year. But too many children were shocked to learn some of their peers were either injured or killed. It was then that they discovered that Israel wanted them to have a macabre welcome for the year 2009. Last night, the last of 2008, was the most horrible and horrendous for all Gazans. Almost every moment, a bomb fell on civilian homes, or other targets that had already been bombed to rubble."

---

Amin Asfour, doctor in a public hospital
Gaza City
Al Jazeera, December 31, 2008


"The situation here is very difficult. They are shooting at us from everywhere, at all targets - military or not. Many have been killed and more injured, especially in the first two days. They are using all sorts of bombs. They weigh up to 500kg and can take out a 15-story building in a second, like an earthquake. Everyone is living in fear. You never know who they are going to hit. Obviously, there is anger. It's our people dying - our kin, our relatives, not strangers. But people stick together. They live because they have to live. We're just waiting for the next bomb to fall and wondering whether it will hit us or the neighbours. In the hospital, we are short on medicine, but we work with what we have. We do miss many supplies and the equipment we work with is really old but our doctors are hardened - no situation will surprise them."

---

Hatem Shurrab, aid worker
Gaza City
The Guardian, December 30, 2008


"At Al Shifa hospital [in Gaza City] there is not enough space for the patients. The injured and the people who have been killed are lying outside. On the first day I saw horrific injuries to men and children who were being brought in; some were suffering terrible amputations. There was one guy who was searching for members of his family. He saw his brother in the bodies and hugged him. He started crying. He was very angry. Also I saw a mother who found her son among the bodies. There's a terrible shortage of doctors, bandages and medical disposables. We are trying to provide the hospital with its basic needs. Some blood supplies have come in from charities working in Jordan. Most of the equipment in the hospital is old and needs maintenance. There's a shortage of spare parts for the machines. There's no electricity for most of the day. They can't use the generators all the time because they don't work very well."

---

Mohamed Al Sharif, NGO worker
Gaza City
BBC News, December 29, 2008


"There is nowhere you can sit without hearing explosions. I can tell you from my own experience that last night was terrifying; for me, for my wife and my baby. I live close to the Islamic University where they bombed us heavily. We're trying to hide in different corners of the apartment; trying to keep the windows open. That's what everybody is talking about; how not to get the windows broken. This is what we are going through right now... On the streets the city is dead. People just move to get necessary items; food, water, stuff like that. Of course, electricity is not available for most of the houses in Gaza... From our perspective, a Gazan perspective, it's the occupation [that is causing this situation]. We cannot fight a sophisticated army like Israel's so we really don't know what can end this. We have no way out."

---

Sami Abdel-Shafi, journalist
Gaza city
The Independent, December 28, 2008


"During the bombing I opened all the windows around my apartment to avoid them imploding as a result of the vacuum shocks sweeping through Gaza City after each enormous bang. While the bombing continued, I jumped down two flights of stairs to my father's house, to make sure he was OK... Mobile phones did not work, because of electricity outages and the flood of attempted calls. I flipped the electricity generator on so that we could watch the news. We wanted to understand what was going on in our own neighbourhood. However, this was impossible. Israeli surveillance drones flew overhead, scrambling the reception. All I could do was step outside, where I found crowds of frantic people, lines of rising smoke and the smell of charred buildings and bodies that lay around targeted sites nearby."