Rafah 14 May 2004
“…the Apaches are shelling us right now, many many fragments and parts of injured people everywhere in the area.
I wasn’t able to identify the body of my relative who was killed. They brought him to the hospital in parts and fragments. I can’t beleive how Hani arrived like this, can’t can’t really can’t — why did they shell him with a group of children — why? — I don’t know why, God why is this?!!
Hani’s body in the hospital. The doctors at Abu Yousif Al-Najjar Hospital were unable to collect all the body parts of the people who were killed. Ambulances collected three blankets of body parts, flesh, and bones belonging to those who were killed by Apache helicopters in different areas.
Hundreds of houses are being demolished now. A Spanish radio station called me and they were shocked to hear the yells of injured people, the sound of the Apaches shelling houses, and the noises of the bulldozers and people asking for help. So many parts of bodies are buried under the rubble of the houses.
Oh, this journalist needs his laptop coomputer now, it has only 18% of it power left. He needs it now as he lent it to me for 10 minutes to write these two e-mails. The electrcity is off and so many, many injured and killed people are here.
A group of doctors and medical team in Abu Yousif Al Najjar hospital in Rafah Camp are collecting remains of flesh that resulted from the attack.
They are shelling everyone here. I’m in bad need of a protective vest. I need to protect my body from those bullets. I need a protective vest and it’s not found here. I used to use one of of the vests of my friends, but he is wearing it now.
Not so many journalists are here to cover the massacres but I don’t know even that my camera took the picture that my eye wanted to take — it’s a poor camera and a slow. I don’t know, I must find a way to get the vest because I’m really in bad need —
ohh, shelllllllinsnnsg shelling shellllling now now
— they are shelling us more from Apaches and F-16s. There are many injured and dead people but the ambulances can’t reach the area.
I will deliver that computer to the journalist, coz it’s beeping from a lack of batteries. Please, please, and for the sake of those children, do tell the people what is going on. Tell them about the parts of the bodies here…
Well, more rockets now. I must leave now to the entrance of the hospital to report things there.”
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Mohammed is a student in Gaza and runs the website Rafah Today (www.rafahtoday.org). This piece was non-destructively edited for reasons of clarity.
