The Scourging of Gaza, Part 1

“Why did they do this?”

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Gazan and a doctor who has devoted his life to medicine and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.

But on Saturday, the day after three of his daughters and a niece were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, Dr. Abuelaish, 53, struggled to hold on to the humane philosophy that has guided his life and work.

As he sat in a waiting room of the Israeli hospital where he works part time, he asked over and over, “Why did they do this?”

The IDF’s “explanation” was the stock response it gives to every reported atrocity: “The Israeli army does not kill or target civilians. Troops fired on Aboul Aish’s house because a sniper had fired on soldiers from the building.”

Not true, said Abu al-Aish:  “All that was ever fired out of our house was love, hugs and acts of peace, nothing else, ever.”

The cruel irony in this is the way the doctor found out that his daughters and his niece had been killed: while giving a report about the war on Israeli television, which was something he did on a regular basis — because the IDF would not allow any outside journalists to enter Gaza.

More here.

New York Times article via Memeorandum.