Since October 7, Gazan journalist Madhat Hajjaj has sent us dozens of eyewitness reports as the Israeli bombing continues. In a video sent to the Observateurs editorial team on November 6 from the Al-Shifa Hospital, he said that “people are fighting for a sip of water” after a night of unprecedented bombardment. The Palestinian Authority has accused the Israeli army of targeting hospitals, bakeries, generators and water tanks.
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November 5 saw one of the heaviest nights of shelling seen in the Gaza Strip since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7. Our Observer, Gazan journalist Madhat Hajjaj, has been reporting from the enclave since the first days of the war.
Read more‘I haven’t seen my wife or my children’: The Gazan journalists reporting on life under the bombs
‘I can’t stand it any more’
Still separated from his family in northern Gaza, Hajjaj continues to report on the humanitarian crisis.
It all began when the Israeli army spokesman threatened, at a press conference, to target hospitals and the civilians in them [at a press conference on 5 November, the Israeli army spokesman broadcast an audio message addressed to the inhabitants of Gaza in which the army asked civilians in particular to evacuate hospitals, specifying that “all those who are close to the terrorists and their bases are putting their lives in danger”. There was no mention of targeting civilians]. A few hours later, the internet connection was cut off. Then the massacres began against my people in Gaza. Every sector of the Strip was bombed. In the north, the beach, houses and buildings collapsed on the heads of their residents.
Of course, no one is able to help the wounded, or remove the dead. Even the ambulances couldn’t do anything because there was no communication. Anyone who moved was targeted. I thank God that I’m still alive. This might be my last video after all this bombing and destruction.
Food and water have become so hard to come by. People are fighting for a sip of water or a small bottle of water. They only eat one meal a day, biscuits or whatever’s left. Many people have no choice but to fast.
The bakeries in Gaza are all closed. All the bakeries have been targeted and there is a shortage of everything, electricity, fuel and gas needed to run the bakeries, and, of course, flour.
I can’t stand what I see any more. I have to stop being a journalist because I’m just a human being. I can’t stand it any more. I salute my family and my people and I hope that this nightmare will come to an end.
This story originally appeared on France24
