Tally of Destruction in Gaza

February 2nd 2009
The Wounds of Gaza
Two Surgeons from the UK, Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr Swee Ang, managedto get into Gaza during the Israeli invasion. Here they describe theirexperiences, share their views, and conclude that the people of Gaza areextremely vulnerable and defenseless in the event of another attack.
The wounds of Gaza are deep and multi-layered. Are we talking about theKhan Younis massacre of 5,000 in 1956 or the execution of 35,000prisoners of war by Israel in 1967? Yet more wounds of the FirstIntifada, when civil disobedience by an occupied people against theoccupiers resulted in massive wounded and hundreds dead? We also cannotdiscount the 5,420 wounded in southern Gaza alone since 2000. Hence whatwe are referring to below are only that of the invasion as of 27December 2008,
Over the period of 27 December 2008 to the ceasefire of 18 Jan 2009, itwas estimated that a million and a half tons of explosives were droppedon Gaza Strip. Gaza is 25 miles by 5 miles and home to 1.5 millionpeople. This makes it the most crowded area in the whole world. Prior tothis Gaza has been completely blockaded and starved for 50 days. In factsince the Palestinian election Gaza has been under total or partialblockade for several years.
On the first day of the invasion, 250 persons were killed. Every singlepolice station in Gaza was bombed killing large numbers of policeofficers. Having wiped out the police force attention was turned to nongovernment targets. Gaza was bombed from the air by F16 and Apachehelicopters, shelled from the sea by Israeli gunboats and from the landby tank artillery. Many schools were reduced to rubble, including theAmerican School of Gaza, 40 mosques, hospitals, UN buildings, and ofcourse 21,000 homes, 4,000 of which were demolished completely. It isestimated that 100,000 people are now homeless.
Israeli weapons
The weapons used apart from conventional bombs and high explosives alsoinclude unconventional weapons of which at least
4 categories could be identified.
Phosphorus Shells and bombs
The bombs dropped were described by eye witnesses as exploding at highaltitude scattering a large canopy of phosphorus bomblets which cover alarge area. During the land invasion, eyewitnesses describe the tanksshelling into homes first with a conventional shell. Once the walls aredestroyed, a second shell - a phosphorus shell is then shot into thehomes. Used in this manner the phosphorus explodes and burns thefamilies and the homes. Many charred bodies were found among burningphosphorus particles.
One area of concern is the phosphorus seems to be in a specialstabilizing agent. This results in the phosphorus being more stable andnot completely burning out. Residues still cover the fields, playgroundand compounds. They ignite when picked up by curious kids, or producefumes when farmers return to water their fields. One returning farmingfamily on watering their field met with clouds of fumes producingepistaxis. Thus the phosphorus residues probably treated with astabilizer also act as anti-personnel weapons against children and makethe return to normal life difficult without certain hazards.
Surgeons from hospitals are also reporting cases where after primarylaparotomy for relatively small wounds with minimal contamination findon second look laparotomy increasing areas of tissue necrosis at about 3days. Patients then become gravely ill and by about 10 days thosepatients needing a third relook encounter massive liver necrosis. Thismay or may not be accompanied by generalized bleeding , kidney failureand heart failure and death. Although acidosis, liver necrosis andsudden cardiac arrest due to hypocalcemia are known to be a complicationof white phosphorus it is not possible to attribute these complicationsas being due to phosphorus alone.
There is real urgency to analyze and identify the real nature of thismodified phosphorus as to its long term effect on the people of Gaza.There is also urgency in collecting and disposing of the phosphorusresidues littering the entire Gaza Strip. As they give off toxic fumeswhen coming into contact with water, once the rain falls the whole areawould be polluted with acid phosphorus fumes. Children should be warnednot to handle and play with these phosphorus residues.
Heavy Bombs
The use of DIME (dense inert material explosives) were evident, thoughit is unsure whether depleted uranium were used in the south. In thecivilian areas, surviving patients were found to have limbs truncated byDIME, since the stumps apart from being characteristically cut off inguillotine fashion also fail to bleed. Bomb casing and shrapnel areextremely heavy.
Fuel Air Explosives
Bunker busters and implosion bombs have been used . There are buildingsespecially the 8 storey Science and Technology Building of the IslamicUniversity of Gaza which had been reduced to a pile of rubble no higherthan 5-6 feet.
Silent Bombs
People in Gaza described a silent bomb which is extremely destructive.The bomb arrives as a silent projectile at most with a whistling soundand creates a large area where all objects and living things arevaporized with minimal trace. We are unable to fit this intoconventional weapons but the possibility of new particle weapons beingtested should be suspected.
Executions
Survivors describe Israeli tanks arriving in front of homes askingresidents to come out. Children, old people and women would come forwardand as they were lined up they were just fired on and killed. Familieshave lost tens of their members through such executions. The deliberatetargeting of unarmed children and women is well documented by humanright groups in the Gaza Strip over the past month.
Targeting of ambulances
Thirteen ambulances had been fired upon killing drivers and first aidpersonnel in the process of rescue and evacuation of the wounded.
Cluster bombs
The first patients wounded by cluster were brought into Abu Yusef NajjarHospital. Since more than 50% of the tunnels have been destroyed, Gazahas lost part of her lifeline. These tunnels contrary to popular beliefare not for weapons, though small light weapons could have been smuggledthrough them. However they are the main stay of food and fuel for Gaza.Palestinians are beginning to tunnel again. However it became clear thatcluster bombs were dropped on to the Rafah border and the first wasaccidentally set of by tunneling. Five burns patients were brought inafter setting off a booby trap kind of device.
Death toll
As of 25 January 2009, the death toll was estimated at 1,350 with thenumbers increasing daily. This is due to the severely wounded continuingto die in hospitals. 60% of those killed were children.
Severe injuries
The severely injured numbered 5,450, with 40% being children.
These are mainly large burns and polytrauma patients. Single limbfractures and walking wounded are not included in these figures.
Through our conversations with doctors and nurses the word holocaust andcatastrophe were repeatedly used. The medical staff all bear thepsychological trauma of the past month living though the situation anddealing with mass casualties which swamped their casualties andoperating rooms. Many patients died in the Accident and EmergencyDepartment while awaiting treatment. In a district hospital, theorthopaedic surgeon carried out 13 external fixations in less than aday.
It is estimated that of the severely injured, 1,600 will sufferpermanently disabilities. These include amputations, spinal cordinjuries, head injuries, large burns with crippling contractures.
Special factors
The death and injury toll is especially high in this recent assault dueto several factors:
No escape: As Gaza is sealed by Israeli troops, no one can escape thebombardment and the land invasion. There is simply no escape. Evenwithin the Gaza Strip itself, movement from north to south is impossibleas Israeli tanks had cut the northern half of Gaza from the south.Compare this with the situation in Lebanon
1982 and 2006, when it was possible for people to escape from an area ofheavy bombardment to an area of relative calm - there was no such isoption for Gaza.
Gaza is very densely populated. It is eerie to see that the bombs usedby Israel have been precision bombs. They have a hundred percent hitrate on buildings which are crowded with people. Examples are thecentral market, police stations.
Schools, the UN compounds used as a safety shelter from bombardment,mosques (40 of them destroyed), and the homes of families who thoughtthey were safe as there were no combatants in them and high rise flatswhere a single implosion bomb would destroy multiple families. Thispattern of consistent targeting of civilians makes one suspect that themilitary targets are but collateral damage, while civilians are theprimary targets.
The quantity and quality of the ammunition being used as describedabove.
Gaza’s lack of defense against the modern weapons of Israel. Shehas no tanks, no planes, no anti-aircraft missiles against the invadingarmy. We experienced that first hand in a minor clash of Israeli tankshells versus Palestinian AK47 return fire. The forces were simplyunmatched.
Absence of well constructed bomb shelters for civilians.
Unfortunately these will also be no match for bunker busters possessedby the Israeli Army.
Conclusion
Taking the above points into consideration, the next assault on Gazawould be just as disastrous. The people of Gaza are extremely vulnerableand defenseless in the event of another attack. If the InternationalCommunity is serious about preventing such a large scale of deaths andinjuries in the future, it will have to develop a some sort of defenseforce for Gaza. Otherwise, many more vulnerable civilans will continueto die.
Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr Swee Ang