Above: Dr. Mads Gilbert describes the situation in Gaza on the phone to CBS News.
Yesterday, I received a forwarded text message depicting the situation in Gaza. It was written by Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian anaesthetic doctor who entered Gaza through Egypt along with fellow Norwegian collague Dr. Eirik Fosse seven days ago. They now find themselves battling a surge of civilian casualties. Translated to English, the text message reads:
"They bombed the central fruit and vegetables marked in Gaza town two hours ago. 80 wounded and 20 killed. All of them came here, to Shifa. Hades! We are up to our knees with death, blood and amputants. Lots of children. Pregnant women. I have never experienced anything this terrible. And now we hear tanks. Tell people, pass it on, shout it from the rooftops. Everything. WE MUST DO MORE! We are living in the history books now, everyone! Mads G, 1.3.09, 13:50, Gaza, Palestine".As Gaza remains closed to the media, citizen journalists like Dr. Gilbert and Dr. Fosse are the only sources of information from the area. They`ve been interviewed by a host of international media organisations. I`m thinking Israel will later regret excluding the media from Gaza.
PS: The Israeli Information Center For Human Rights In The Occupied Territories, B`Tselem, issued this press release on December 25th, stating:
"Palestinian rocket fire at Israeli civilians constitutes a war crime and those responsible for it must be prosecuted. Israel is obligated to defend its civilians, but it must do so in compliance with international humanitarian law."- Since then it`s been quiet.
