Click here for video clips.
Haneen al-Batran, a nine year old girl who was shot in the face and abdomen by Israeli snipers as her family ran to the AL-Quds hospital in Tel al-Hawa, died at 5pm on January 16th.
The shooting of the al Batran family
The Al Batran Family from Tel Al Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City fled terrified from their homes and attempted to take refuge in Al Quds hospital on Between noon And 1:00PM January 15th, 2009. Israeli snipers stationed directly outside the hospital opened fire on the family. Nine year old Haneen Al Batran was shot through the face and in the abdomen. The father, 54 year old Fadel Al Batran, was shot in the thigh and fell to the ground. 12-year-old Jasmeen, can be seen in the videos above frozen in terror, being carried into the hospital by a medic who ran into the line of fire to retrieve her, and being treated by doctors in the hospital afterwards.
Haneen al Batran died of her wounds in Al Shifa hospital at 5pm on January 16th.
The shelling and evacuation of Al Quds hospital
Al-Quds hospital was shelled repeatedly in the early morning and several wings destroyed. At approximately 11:00 PM a wing close to the wards was shelled and caught fire. The patients were all evacuated and transferred to Al- Shifa hospital and a nearby Red Crescent facility despite severe overcrowding.
The first floor of the burnt hospital is still being used as an ambulance depot for the Red Crescent. Doctors hope to have the hospital running on Monday despite fears of further shelling.
Quotes from residents of Tel al-Hawa
"They were killing any person they could see in the street. They shot at my next-door neighbor. From the area around here, there are around 25 martyrs. They are still looking for missing people. They shelled a complete part of the hospital. The streets and infrastructure are completely destroyed. The building across the street is still burning, and it was a pharmacy depot. The people fled to seek refuge in Al Quds hospital 200 meters from here. Some of the ambulances were destroyed. I saw with my own eyes the burning, the smoke. This is savagery. I don’t think anyone in his life has ever witnessed such brutality and horror." - Dr. Assad, Tel al-Hawa
"We were in our house in Tel al-Hawa. The Israelis were shelling all around. We were really scared being under fire and not being able to do anything about it. None of the people in our building are resisting, we are all civilians. Our neighbors in the building next to us were injured from the shelling. The Red Cross made arrangements for us to leave but we couldn’t take any of our possessions, not even our identification cards. We left wearing only our pajamas. Outside, a man and his daughter were shot by Israeli Forces, and we were praying not to be shot as well. We stayed an hour in the hospital basement before moving on to the nearest UNWRA School. We walked a long distance, we couldn’t sleep, and some of the people were badly injured. Now we live with relatives. Everything we have is in that house but we can not go back there." - Tel al-Hawa resident
Quotes from Medical staff and volunteers
"The patients from Al Quds hospital were evacuated under white flags. Two or three patients were put in the same bed, and the beds were wheeled across the street for 500 meters or more. Those evacuated included numbered around 40 patients. Three newborn babies were evacuated in their incubators and at least four patients were in critical condition. We evacuated because of a fire which started on the second floor of the building and began to spread. The patients and staff were ready to die from the fire or die from shooting. Hospital medics are now cleaning the hospital, which sustained heavy damage from the attack, in the hopes that we can make it operational again by Monday." - Dr. Waleed Ramadan
"After around 600 people had gone to Al-Quds hospital, they then had to leave again. They thought they had found somewhere safe, but nowhere is safe here. I am accompanying ambulances working out of the first floor of what remains of Al Quds hospital. Since the same locations are often targeted repeatedly, we all fear that the hospital will again come under attack." - Sharon Lock, an Australian volunteer who participated in the evacuation of the Batran family and the evacuation of the Al Quds hospital
No comments:
Post a Comment