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“We know that many
houses were destroyed and 800 families don’t have a place where to
live any more. In 13
days of heavy attacks the Israeli troops prevented any humanitarian
help. For 16 days
ambulances were not able to enter the camp. Many women, children and
old people were killed
without fighting they were civilians not fighters. A 65 years-old
man
Muhammad Abu Sba’a was
shot dead by Israeli soldiers after he warned the driver of an
approaching bulldozer
that his house was packed with families sheltering from the
fighting.
Fadwa Jamma a nurse was
shot dead by Israeli troops when she tried to help a wounded
man. They could see that
she was a nurse but even like that they killed her. This is what we
know by personal
testimonies. We don’t know the number of killed people because the
Israelis buried them to
hide their crime, we don’t know the number of the missing people
because they still under
the rubble, we don’t know how many are in jail. After the event we
can’t say too much
because the access is limited to the camp, they don’t allow UN to
send
a mission to investigate
what really happened in the camp, journalists were prevented to
enter the camp as well,
they didn’t allow bomb experts to enter, no humanitarian help was
allowed too.” Said to
Jerusalem Forum Patricia, a British girl who works for Health
Development Information
Policy in Ramallah.
The following is the
testimony of Rufaida Damaj, Fadwa’s sister who was wounded and
survived. From her bed
in Jenin hospital she said what happened when Fadwa Jamma
was killed.
"We were woken at 3.30 in the morning by a big explosion," she said.
"I heard that one guy
was wounded outside our
house. So my sister and I went to do our duty and to help the guy
and give him first aid.
There were some guys from the resistance outside and
we had to ask them before we moved anywhere. I told them that my
sister was a nurse, I
asked them to let us go
to the wounded.
"Before I had finished talking to the guys the Israelis started
shooting. I got a bullet in my leg
and I fell down
and broke my knee. My sister tried to come and help me. I told
her, " I am
wounded.” She said, “
I'm wounded too.” She had been shot in the side of her abdomen.
Then they shot her again
in the heart. I asked where she was wounded but she didn't
answer, she made a
terrible sound and tried to breathe three times."
Ms Jamma was wearing a
white nurse's uniform clearly marked with a red crescent, the
emblem of Palestinian
medical workers, when the soldiers shot her. Ms Damaj said the
soldiers could clearly
see the women because they were standing under a bright light,
and could hear their cries for help because they were "very near".
As Ms Damaj shouted to the Palestinian fighters to get help, the
Israeli soldiers fired again: a second bullet went up
through her leg into her
chest.
Eventually an ambulance was allowed through to rescue Ms Damaj. Her
sister was already
dead. It was to be one
of the last times an ambulance was allowed near the wounded in
Jenin camp until after
the battle ended.
The testimony of Atiya’s
widow. Atiya was a 44-years-old Palestinian civilian killed by the
Israeli troops.
As she told his story, her orphaned children clung to her side.
"There was shooting all around the house. At about 5pm I went to
check the building. I told my husband two bombs had
come into the house. He went to check. After two minutes he called me to come, but
he was having difficulty calling. I went with the children. He was
still standing. In my life
I've never seen the way he looked at me. He said, 'I'm wounded', and started bleeding from
his mouth and nose. The children started crying, and he fell down. I asked him what happened
but he couldn't talk.
"His eyes went to the children. He looked at them one by one. Then
he looked at me. Then all his body was shaking. When I looked,
there was a bullet in his head. I tried to call an
ambulance, I was
screaming for anybody to call an ambulance. One
came but it was sent back by the Israelis.
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