Witnesses in Gaza described scenes of horror as the death toll piled after a night and day of shelling in a residential neighbourhood Al-Shejaia in the sieged city. Today is day 13 of the beginning of “Operation Defensive Edge,” launched by Israel against Gaza in retaliation for the death [1] of three Israeli teenagers.
Altogether, activists and Palestinian sources claim that 437 Palestinians have so far been killed, among them scores of women and children, and thousands more injured. News sources also say some 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed [2].
In plain numbers, Palestianism, who describes herself as “Israel's demographic threat; a civilian” to her 13.4k followers, writes:
Day 13 – Confirmed – 437 Palestinians killed. #Gaza [3]
— F. (@Palestinianism) July 20, 2014 [4]
Today's horror surpasses any Palestinians have seen since the start of this war, particularly the attack on Al-Shejaia neighbourhood, of Gaza. Occupied Palestine blogs the ordeal in this [WARNING: graphic content] photo post [5] and on Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah reports [6]:
Dozens of men, women and children were killed in the early hours of Sunday as Israel indiscriminately shelled the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Shujaiya.
Some sixty bodies have already been removed from the rubble of homes and apartment buildings, and the number of injured is more than two hundred, Palestinian health ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra told local media.
From Gaza, Mohammed Abu Sadaa tells his 1,400 followers on Twitter:
I tweeted before Friday was the bloodiest. Today surpasses Friday and still counting..I expect more bloody one is yet to come! #StopIsrael [7]
— Mohammed M Abu Sadaa (@GazanPal) July 20, 2014 [8]
In a series of tweets, he also shares several photographs from today's Al-Shejaia massacre, which has claimed at least . Here are some of them:
Al-Shejaia massacre in PHOTOS..<11> pic.twitter.com/ud8dpcdwg6 [9]
— Mohammed M Abu Sadaa (@GazanPal) July 20, 2014 [10]
Al-Shejaia massacre in PHOTOS..<9> pic.twitter.com/8A2FVsfohA [11]
— Mohammed M Abu Sadaa (@GazanPal) July 20, 2014 [12]
Al-Shejaia massacre in PHOTOS..<1> pic.twitter.com/uFKqSj0lGp [13]
— Mohammed M Abu Sadaa (@GazanPal) July 20, 2014 [14]
Palestiainism describes the destruction and loss as “unimaginable”:
Shaja'iya, east Gaza. The destruction and loss is unimaginable. #Gaza [3] pic.twitter.com/jcohaiFNlX [15]
— F. (@Palestinianism) July 20, 2014 [16]
She adds:
Today, a 90 y/o lady was brought to us dead. She has been dead for three days, medics unable to reach her house. #Gaza [3] #GazaUnderAttack [17]
— Samah Saleh (@Solarah) July 20, 2014 [18]
And Mohammed Ziara mourns the loss of his ancestral home:
حي الشجاعية في غزة, المكان الذي تنتمي له عائلتي, تحول الى انقاض بسبب القصف الإسرائيلي المتواصل #مجزرة_الشجاعية [19] pic.twitter.com/ms7msHniqF [20]
— Mohammed N. Ziara (@MohammedNZiara) July 20, 2014 [21]
Al-Shejaia neighbourhood in Gaza, the place which my family belongs to, has turned into rubble because of the constant Israeli shelling
Lina, a Palestinian from Gaza, who lives in Qatar, reports:
Mama tells me she saw some of the people who fled their houses from Shejaia,she said they're carrying white flags. as if israel cares.
— Lina ام ياسمين (@livefromgaza) July 20, 2014 [22]
Thousands of Palestinians have fled the neighbourhood as the fighting intensified, although there is no where to go. Gaza, home to 1.8 million Palestinians, is described as the “world's largest open-air prison [23].” Israel borders it from one side, and Egypt blocks it from the other.
Many netizens have shared this video of Al Jazeera anchor in Gaza, Wael Al Dahdooh, breaking down in tears as he describes the horror he witnessed in the aftermath of the Al-Shejaia massacre:
Sana Saeed tells her 16.2k followers on Twitter:
This is the original IDF justification for bombing houses, hospitals, mosques and schools #Gaza [3] pic.twitter.com/jOP7h2KVND [24]
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) July 20, 2014 [25]
She also shares this poster, from the Israel Defense Forces, which shows where “terrorists” hide in Gaza:
This is the original IDF justification for bombing houses, hospitals, mosques and schools #Gaza [3] pic.twitter.com/jOP7h2KVND [24]
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) July 20, 2014 [25]
And she notes:
Israel's precision weaponry is, thus far, 80% precise in killing civilians.
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) July 19, 2014 [26]
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv-based journalist Gregg Carlstrom tweets to his 24.1k followers:
Palestinians inside Israel and in the West Bank planning a general strike tomorrow, and protests too, at least on the Israeli side.
— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) July 20, 2014 [27]
From Gaza, Hamas, which has ruled the strip since 2007, has been firing missiles into Israel. Most of the rockets coming into Israel have caused no serious damage, due in part to the US-funded Iron Dome aerial defense system, which is intercepting most of the projectiles.