AP
Gaza Residents Run Out Space to Bury Dead
Date: Mon, Oct 04, 2004
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip - Hemmed into their small Gaza town by an Israeli army blockade while their young men exchange fire with soldiers, the people of Beit Lahiya are running out of space to bury their dead.
Normally, Beit Lahiya uses the graveyard at the nearby Jebaliya refugee camp. But since Israeli tanks and infantry surrounded the town Wednesday in a mission to stop Palestinian rocket fire, even the dead have nowhere to go.
Troops destroyed homes, demolished factories and even a kindergarten. Other residents in the area have no water and electricity, and the sick have trouble getting their medication.
The military said it was working to provide humanitarian assistance.
Nearly 60 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting. On Sunday, volunteers in Beit Lahiya cleared rocks and weeds to make space for 33 bodies in the town's small cemetery.
"We came here to help find a good place for our martyrs," said Mohammed Burahan, one of the volunteers. "I think our voluntary work is part of our battle."
In neighboring Jebaliya, residents said they have been without water and electricity for four days, and supply vehicles come under fire from the army.
"We want water, we have only three bottles left," said Othman Abed Rabbo, 33, who lives just east of Jebaliya. "I tried yesterday to send my wife but a tank fired at her."
Salwa Al Jouz, a 55-year-old diabetic, said her stocks of insulin were ruined because the power was out to her refrigerator.
"I don't know what to do to refill the insulin I need," she said. "I called the hospital asking them to send me an ambulance, but they said the ambulance can't get into our area."
Hospitals were also running short of supplies, especially oxygen, said Dr. Mowaia Hassanein, chief of emergency services at the Palestinian Health Ministry. He said dozens of surgical procedures could not be carried out.
The Israeli army said it had opened a route for humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
"Over 35 trips along the route have been coordinated ... including convoys of medical supplies, maintenance crews, vehicles belonging to international organizations and local ambulances," the statement said.
"The army places the utmost importance on maintaining the normal day-to-day life among the Palestinian civilian population," it said.
Early Sunday, more than 35 tanks and five bulldozers moved briefly into the eastern part of the Tel al-Zatar area, northeast of Jebaliya, and bulldozers razed at least seven houses, two factories and a kindergarten, residents said.
Toys, coloring books, and posters of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse were scattered throughout the rubble of the kindergarten.
"Is this place an army base or military training camp to be targeted?" asked Jaber Abu Oukal, the head of the kindergarten.
"We have 400 boys and girls ages 3-5 who used to come here to play and start their educations. Now they have no place to go but the street," he said. "Those kids will remember forever what the occupation did in their place. and who destroyed their toys and took the smile from their faces," he said.
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