RAFAH, Gaza Strip, 21 May 2004 — As gunfire rang out and Israeli Army bulldozers razed more Palestinian homes in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah yesterday, Najwa Hashash wept for her dead nine-year-old son. Dozens of women and children gathered to comfort the family of Mubarak, the youngest of 10 Palestinians killed Wednesday when Israeli troops used tanks and helicopters to disperse a protest against their massive raid in Rafah.
The boy’s father shifted his weight and could not keep the tears from streaming down his cheeks as youths carried his son’s body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag and placed in a tiny wooden coffin, away for burial. “The demolitions are a crime against humanity,” said Mohammed, a Rafah resident, as he watched Israeli tanks dismantle the home of the Khafaja family.
“They didn’t even have time to clear out their house,” he said, referring to Nahla Khafaja, her husband and sister-in-law, all wounded since the start of Israel’s “Operation Rainbow” early Tuesday.
Witnesses said the Israeli Army had demolished more than 15 homes in the Brazil and Salam neighborhoods of Rafah, located near the border with Egypt.
Palestinian officials said they had not yet been able to release any official figures about the destruction in Rafah town and the neighboring refugee camp due to the intensity of the ongoing raid.
“The sealing off of Rafah and the intensity of the shooting have prevented anyone from going to the areas stricken by the most important Israeli military operation since 1967,” Rafah Governor Majid Agha told AFP. “We’re talking about a humanitarian catastrophe and organized war crimes,” he charged.
UN officials have said the operation has left more than 1,000 people homeless. But despite widespread international condemnation and a UN Security Council resolution criticizing Israel for killing Palestinians civilians, the raid continued yesterday, with bulldozers taking down more houses as tanks launched sporadic shell fire.
Israeli soldiers smashed storefronts and “looted” several shops including a pharmacy before retreating, said pharmacy owner Hussein Al-Hassi.
More than 15,000 people participated yesterday in the funerals of seven of the 41 Palestinians killed since the start of the raid, calling for revenge for “the spilled blood of the martyrs” and denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Israel has expressed regret for the civilian deaths but said it would go forward with the operation, which it says is aimed at arresting wanted militants and stamping out cross-border weapons smuggling.
Some families were unable to bury their loved ones due to the ongoing strikes. The mother of 13-year-old Mahmud Mansur, killed during Wednesday’s protest, could only raise her hands toward the sky amid the destruction, begging for “God’s help”.
Meanwhile, Palestinian boys chased a limping ostrich through a Gaza refugee camp yesterday after the Israeli raid spelled disaster for a zoo that was a rare amusement spot for local children.
The Israeli army denied flattening the zoo and suggested its creatures had escaped because they were not being cared for. Whatever happened, Palestinian boys made the best of the situation.
Spotting the ostrich on the loose, they gave chase, grabbed the bewildered, mangy-looking African bird and trotted through the streets with it, laughing heartily.
The zoo site was in a neighborhood sealed off by Israeli troops. Residents said it had been a tiny, Spartan affair hosting two ostriches, an array of colorful parrots and other exotic birds, some snakes, one monkey — and a pony painted with black stripes to make it look like a zebra.
Some 250 families in the camp found themselves homeless again and were housed by UN relief workers in dingy school classrooms and rows of tents. The house demolitions were nothing new in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians who launched an uprising in occupied territories three and a half years ago.
But the zoo was something special for Rafah’s deprived youngsters. Its reported demise rubbed salt in the wounds of the community as the death toll from the raid rose to 40, several of them children in a protest march that came under tank fire.
“Rafah’s zoo was the only place of entertainment for kids here. It’s a shame they destroyed it, but no surprise. Those who killed the children can also kill their fun,” said Ahmed Hussein, a taxi driver who used to take families to the zoo.
