HOSSAM MADHOUN’S MESSAGES ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES DURING THE ISRAELI ATTACK ON GAZA IN 2014
3 August 2014
Jamal answered my inquiry about his well-being:
Dear Jonathan
Thanks for your concern, and all friends in London and every where.
We are still here.. but it’s horrible and getting more scaring
Hope things change soon.
Can’t write more due to electricity absence.
Greetings from Gaza
Jamal
Then Hossam sent this message:
hi
For a few days I’ve been trying, looking for water, calling many people to secure some potable water for the building where I live (30 regional families and 42 displaced families are taking refuge with their relatives in our building – around 300 persons)
Finally today a water tank owner told me that he’d secured 2000 litres, he asked me to meet him at a meeting point 1km from my home as he did not know the address.
I went there, I met him to lead him to home.
On our way, people all ages carrying jerry cans urge us, begged us to give them some water.
It was impossible to say no
It took us one and a half hours to reach our building with 400 litres, thank God.
Note: something that you may not know about the Gaza water situation in general
water scarcity is around 40%, the potable water in the aquifer according to the WHO standards is at only 5%.
The water in the tap is not drinkable, it is safe but very salty and people use it for domestic purposes only.
The water purification private station is a business in Gaza since more than 15 years due to the water problem.
It is normal to see water tanking in the street selling water to people at homes. Every single home in Gaza has a water storage tank
The Municipal water is reaching homes once every 3 days in the normal times through 250 public water well. Today, more than 20 water wells have been destroyed by the Israelis
87 wells located at the east of Gaza, are not reachable
10% electricity remains in Gaza and we can not operate the remaining wells for more than few hours, those remaining wells are connected to only 40% of the population
More than 1000.000 million Palestinians in Gaza have no access to water now.
The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) yesterday announced Gaza as a water humanitarian crisis and that they are not able to run the water and sanitation system any more.
I am not going to talk about the massacre happening in Rafah since early morning until now and still going on until …. who knows, so far more than 100 civilians killed including many children, more than 400 injuries, …. other places in Gaza also bombed and people are killed and injured in many other places.
World!!
Help please
Help
Then he sent me this piece 20 minutes later:
Rafah city under heavy bombing from sky, sea, land, tanks
The only hospital in Rafah evacuated completely with orders from the Israeli army who said that they want to bomb it, all types of injuries are without treatment, no place, no fridges to keep the dead bodies.
Abeer’s sister with her husband and five children trapped in Rafah, evacuated their home and went to another relative’s home inside the city,
Abeer is in panic, worried for them.
My friend Jawad Harb whose post I shared also trapped with more than 50 members of his family in Rafah.
I am in panic, worried for all of them
God help!
Read Hossam’s messages from Gaza. Next.