We have fled for too long, Gaza is our last refuge and our home after we were displaced from what is now called Israel. All this happened 60 years ago. What more could they want? We have nowhere left to go.” – Safa Joudeh, January 5th 2009.
In a series of diary entries, appearing originally on electronicintifada.net, 27 year old freelance journalist Safa Joudeh reports from Gaza City, in the epicenter of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. What follows are excerpts of the entries, presented in chronological order, alongside links to news headlines of the day for context and contrast. [About the photos in this article.]

December 27, 2008

"The amount of death and destruction is inconceivable"

Six locations were hit during the air raid on GazaCity. The images are probably not broadcasted on US news channels. There were piles and piles of bodies in the locations that were hit. As you looked at them you could see that a few of the young men were still alive, someone lifts a hand, and another raises his head. They probably died within moments because their bodies were burned, most had lost limbs, some of their guts were hanging out and they were all lying in pools of blood. Outside my home which is close to the two largest universities in Gaza, a missile fell on a large group of young men, university students. They'd been warned not to stand in groups as it makes them an easy target, but they were waiting for buses to take them home. Seven were killed, four students and three of our neighbors' kids, young men who were from the Rayes family and were best friends. As I'm writing this I can hear a funeral procession go by outside; I looked out the window a moment ago and it was the three Rayes boys. They spent all their time together when they were alive, they died together and now they are sharing the same funeral together. Nothing could stop my 14-year-old brother from rushing out to see the bodies of his friends laying in the street after they were killed. He hasn't spoken a word since. [More@electronicintifada.net]
Headlines for Dec. 27th:
Israeli assault on Hamas kills more than 200      AP/The Boston Globe


December 28, 2008

The longest night of my life
About an hour ago they bombed the Islamic University, destroying the laboratory building. As I mentioned in an earlier account, my home is close to the university. We heard the first explosion, the windows shook, the walls shook and my heart felt like it would literally jump out of my mouth. My parents, siblings and cousins, who have been staying with us since their home was damaged the first day of the air raids, had been trying to get some sleep. We all rushed to the side of the house that was farthest from the bombing. Hala, my 11-year-old sister stood motionless and had to be dragged to the other room. I still have marks on my shoulder from when Aya, my 13-year-old cousin held on to me during the next four explosions, each one as violent and heart-stopping as the next. Looking out of the window moments later the night sky had turned to a dirty navy-gray from the smoke. [More@electronicintifada.net] Headlines for Dec 28th:
Israel hits more targets- AP/ABC Action News
Thousands across Middle East protest Gaza attack- AP via NPR
Massive Airstrike In Gaza Opens Operation “Lead Cast”- Defense Update.com



January 5, 2009

Resisting to protect our own
The evening of 3 January, we realized that if there was any truth to Israeli war minister Ehud Barak's words, it's that this invasion will be a long one. At approximately 9:15pm local time Israeli forces entered the Strip from three locations...

Many people were not even aware that the invasion had begun, thinking the whole time that Israel had just intensified its air raids. GazaCity has been without power for a few days now and radio batteries were running out. Almost all the residents of GazaCity have been confined to their homes for over a week and all of the stores have been closed. People are relying on word of mouth to get the news, very few are lucky enough to have generators and leftover fuel...

For the past few days we have seen over 10 mosques, holy places of worship, bombed, frequently while people were praying inside. We have seen children being pulled out from under the rubble who looked like there was not a single bone unbroken in their small bodies. We have seen hospitals overflowing with bloody corpses and people taking their last breaths. We have seen friends on television being resuscitated at sites of Israeli air raids. We have seen entire families swept off the face of the earth in one blow, and we have seen our streets, homes, neighborhoods become unrecognizable ruins from the amount of destruction.

And yet Israel continues to blatantly and insistently affirm that the offensive is not aimed at the civilians and that it's war against the political and military wings of Hamas. Meanwhile we, the people of Gaza, are collectively experiencing a kind of terror and violence that no human being should ever endure. One almost begins to suspect that the Israeli war forces are acting on a delusion that they have created and come to believe.[More@electronicintifada.net]
Headlines for Jan 5th:
Israel Drives Deeper Into Gaza, Rebuffing Diplomatic Efforts- New York Times
Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight- AP

Pre-Offensive Entries
Safa Joudeh has been chronicling life in Gaza for the year leading up to the Israeli offensive. Read her pre-offensive diary entries:

A psychological siege, December 3, 2008
Witnessing the siege, January 14, 2008
A note about the photographs.

Photos for this story were appropriated under a creative commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license from the flickr stream of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi. View more of Amir's excellent photos at Flickr. Be advised that due to the subject nature many of the photos are extremely graphic.

Audio produced by Brett Myers and Rebecca Martin.

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