After the unprecedented events in Israel and the Gaza Strip at the weekend, P&J columnist George Mitchell has revisited several columns he has written about his time in the region.
From meeting with the spokesman for Islamic Jihad to speaking to the mother of a murdered Israeli soldier, George has gained a deep understanding of the tensions in the area that few western journalists have experienced.
Here, he picks some of the most relevant extracts to shed some light on the dangerous divisions that led to the weekend’s jaw-dropping attacks.
Israeli military strikes on mosques
Out of the car window, I spotted a wide-open space in amongst where people lived, that had obviously been bombed. Only what was left of the mosque’s minaret remained standing.
I got out and took photos, as Rami – my local “fixer” – explained: “This large mosque and compound took a direct hit from Israeli jets in 2014.”
“Israel claiming weapons were stored there?” I asked.
“Yes,” replied Rami.” You know, most mosques in Gaza, not all, but most, are controlled by Hamas, so it’s very probable it had rockets inside. As you can see, no houses or shops nearby were hit. Just the mosque.”
Israel hits specific mosques because it claims they are used to store weapons, and also to fire them into Israeli towns. They also claim that hospitals and schools have been used for the same purpose.
Hamas emphatically denies this, as do both the fighter groups I interviewed.
However, it seems, to me anyway, due to freely available-to-view photos and video clips taken from satellites, that such weapons have indeed been stored in certain mosque compounds.
That said, is that itself justification for bombing them? Scores of civilians have died in Beit Hanoun due to Israeli strikes over many years.
Lack of medical supplies
In this hospital, the only one in Beit Hanoun for 50,000 people, I asked: “Give me an example of the conditions here right now?”
The doctor replied: “We have no morphine. A very limited supply of antibiotics, little cancer medicine and no radiotherapy facilities.”
“If someone comes in today, from say a bombing or serious accident, what’s the strongest painkiller you can give them?” I asked.
“Ibuprofen.”
I continued: “Who do you blame for the lack of medical supplies?”
He said, very matter of fact: “One – Israel. Two – The Palestinian Authority. And three – Hamas.”
Fresh strawberries and Israeli drones
Standing in the middle of the strawberry field in northern Gaza with Rami and an Imam, it all seemed so peaceful and I had to remind myself where I really was.
“How close are we to the Gaza/Israeli border?” I asked.
He pointed out over the fields in front of us. “Just over there, look.”
A few hundred metres away I spotted an Israeli look-out post. I asked the Imam, what would happen if he simply walked over the fields in the direction of the watch tower.
He smiled. “I wouldn’t make it, I’d be shot.”
He then handed me some strawberries which he had just picked.
Suddenly, Rami said to me: “Do you hear that?”
“No, what?” I asked.
“Listen, and look up,” said Rami.
“What is it?”
“An Israeli drone, it’s recording,” he explained.
Standing eating strawberries with an Imam in a field in the Gaza Strip whilst being watched by Israeli drones – this was about as surreal as life gets, I reckoned.
I made a mental note for myself. When crossing back into Israel, if questioned about who I met in Gaza, if I was asked did I meet with an Imam? Simply say yes, they know you did, they’re filming you right now.
In a basement with masked armed men
This extract is taken from one of George’s Gaza columns in 2018.
Having requested this interview, I was warned that I may be blindfolded in advance. That thankfully did not happen.
I was about to meet with the armed masked men of the Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni Brigades inside the Gaza Strip.
I had no idea what to expect. I’m not the powerful BBC with a support team behind me. It was just my fixer, Rami, and myself.
I was shown into a building, down a flight of stairs and into a basement. As I entered, I saw a sight I have never seen before, and am not sure I ever want to again.
Six armed and masked men were standing to attention, waiting for my arrival.
I was allowed to take photographs at will, including of their rockets. Then, I sat down, the leader pulled up a chair, sitting directly in front of me. Behind him stood five masked men, their guns held across their chests. They looked down and directly at me.
Now I was nervous. I could hear the evening call to prayer from outside in the streets. I composed myself and began.
George Mitchell (GM): “What happens when a rocket fired from you or another group in Gaza lands in Israel and innocent Jews die. Where’s your justification for that?”
Masked leader (ML): “In Islam, it is forbidden to attack women or children…”
GM: “I am led to believe that many rockets that were fired into Israel were stored inside mosques in Gaza, is this true?”
ML: “This is brainwashing from the Zionist media.”
GM: “So, you’re telling me that no groups put rockets inside mosques?”
ML: “Never. The mosque is for Allah, nothing else.”
GM: “How many fighters do you have in Gaza?”
ML: “We have 7,000 men.”
Seven thousand fighters is a sizeable number, but nothing compared to the might of the Israeli army. I asked him: “Do you seriously believe that you can defeat Israel?”
ML: “We believe in our struggle against the Israeli occupation; Allah promised us victory in the end.”
GM: “Do you hate Jews?”
ML: “No. We respect all religions. Palestine is the only Arab country where there is no conflict between the religions. We are not fighting the Israelis because they are Jewish, it’s because they are occupying our land. We have a lot of Christian friends, we visit them and say god bless them, there’s no difference between us and Christians.”
I had not felt threatened during this interview; nervous yes, but not threatened. However, back in my hotel room later that night, as I mulled it over and over, I am not ashamed to admit, that for the first time the thought of being in the same room as masked armed men, underground in Gaza, scared me.
Meeting the chief spokesman for Islamic Jihad
The following is taken from an interview with Mr Daoud Shehab, the chief spokesman for Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. It is one of the many groups fighting what it calls the “Israeli occupation of Palestine”.
George Mitchell (GM): “…the firing of rockets into Israel has killed innocent Jewish people…”
Daoud Shehab (DS): “We are simply defending ourselves…”
GM: “When Palestinian children in Gaza have died due to Israeli fire, I think there is no justification for that. But your rockets have also killed innocent Jews. How do you justify that?”
DS: “We are just defending ourselves. If there are no attacks from Israel, then for sure there will be no rockets from Gaza.”
GM: “But your rockets are fired indiscriminately into Jewish towns. That’s not defence against the Israeli army. If a Jewish civilian, say a child, is killed, is that justified?”
DS: “If the world stops Israel killing us, then there will be no rockets fired from Gaza.”
GM: “Please just answer my question. Is it acceptable that a Jewish child dies from a rocket fired from Gaza?”
This was getting heated. At the time I didn’t actually realise it, but when I played back the interview recording, I could hear Mr Shehab jabbing his finger on to the glass coffee table as he answered: “We never target civilians.”
GM: “Israel claims that groups in Gaza store rockets and weapons inside mosques. Is this true?”
DS: “That’s not true. I can take you to any mosque and you will find no rockets there.”
GM: “So, just to clarify, Islamic Jihad do not put weapons inside mosques?”
DS: “Never. It’s haram to do this.”
GM: “Do you ever put rockets in or around schools?”
DS: “No, it’s not true.”
Interview with an ex-IDF member
George spoke with Inon Dan Kehati, a former soldier with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), Israel’s national military, back in 2018.
“Let’s talk about the Gaza Strip. I put it to you that the people of Gaza are all suffering a collective punishment because of the actions of a few.”
“I agree, they suffer terribly. And I don’t say that lightly,” replied Inon.
I looked directly at him via my Skype video and said: “During the last full-scale war in 2014 – now I’m not talking about Hamas, or you guys defending Israel against rocket attacks, so please don’t answer about that. I’m saying to you directly, how can you, how can Israel, justify the fact that more than 500 totally innocent children were killed in Gaza due to rocket strikes by the IDF?”
“Let me tell you about these children…” I was on the edge of my seat; I genuinely had no idea what he was going to say. Inon took a deep breath then a long pause, but was soon overcome with emotion and cried, he put his head in his hands. I didn’t know where to look. It was the longest 30 seconds of my life.
Finally, composed again, Inon said: “No kid deserved this. We do not celebrate the death of children. The kids of our enemy are not our enemy.”
‘Hamas are using my son as a bargaining chip’
Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier, was captured and killed by Hamas in 2014. George interviewed his mother.
Another solider, Gilad Shalit, had been captured alive, held by Hamas for five years and used as a bargaining chip. Israel finally agreed to hand over, in return for the safe release of Gilad, more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
I said to Hadar Goldin’s mother: “Do you think one for 1,000 was a mistake?”
She paused before replying: “Israel got a son back… but we released over 1,000 convicted terrorists back on to the streets to kill again. We are paralysed by this incident. Now, Hamas are using my son as a bargaining chip.”
Today Hamas is holding dozens of Israeli soldiers and citizens hostage in Gaza…
You have 15 seconds to get inside a bunker
I was on a press tour in Sderot, an Israeli town very close to the Gaza border.
Every house in Sderot has a concrete bomb shelter, every school has bomb shelters in the playgrounds, bus shelters have them in the streets. Even railway station platforms have huge rocket-proof concrete roofs over them. Also, there is the Iron Dome defence system that intercepts and shoots down incoming rockets. However, it doesn’t stop them all.
Picture this, you’re playing in the back garden with your child or grandchild, it’s a beautiful sunny day and all is calm. Suddenly you hear the warning. You have 15 seconds to get inside a bunker. Fifteen seconds before that Hamas rocket, which is not precision guided and can land anywhere, hits.
In Sderot, I was taken to a school and spoke with the head teacher. All the children are drilled in what to do when the warning comes. I saw outside another school, kids playing outside during break time. The only difference compared to our schools in Scotland was the obvious bomb shelters in the playgrounds.
I visited a play park in the city centre, totally normal like any play park in our towns with swings and climbing frames. Yet the large snake that runs through this particular play park is not an amenity, it’s actually a concrete bunker.
Kids are trained to run into it if they happen to be in the park and the rockets start to come.
Be under no illusion, Hamas rockets are not aimed at the “Israeli aggressor”, they are indiscriminately fired and there can be no justification whatsoever for this.
This is not being done to “protect” the people of Gaza. Watch for yourself, footage of various factions firing rockets indiscriminately towards Israeli towns as they shout in Arabic “god is great”, and then explain to me how that helps the people of Gaza?
Out and about in Gaza…
Walking with Rami and Fatma in a very poor neighbourhood, I was taking photos of buildings that had been hit by recent Israeli rockets. Suddenly Rami turned to me and said: “Put your camera away.”
“Why?” I asked.
“See that building there? That’s a look-out area that belongs to Islamic Jihad. See their black flags? Don’t photo that one.”
Every day while in Gaza, we stopped and chatted with numerous locals. All desperate to tell me their stories. Desperate to tell the world that they are not terrorists, just ordinary people, suffering.
Never once did any of them tell me that they hated Jews. For sure, they’re not in love with the Israeli government or army for the blockade, but I was beginning to learn, it’s not just Israel the Gazan people hold responsible for their current situation.
“Where are our guns? Bombs? Knives? None. We are not like this. Not terrorists. Tell the world, tell them about us, tell them not to believe the images on TV. That’s only a tiny percentage, it’s not us.”
Regarding warnings given before the IDF strikes, I was told by Gazans themselves, that yes, numerous calls and texts were sent from the IDF telling civilians in Gaza to get out of their area ASAP. Fatima’s family got such a call, they quickly left and survived, staying with neighbours for one month before returning home.
Israel also accuses Hamas of using Gazans as human shields and telling them not to leave the area when the rockets are coming.
Hamas denies this, but I was told by ordinary Gazans that this did happen.
No electricity at night
I visited three schools in Gaza City and spoke with numerous children aged five and up in various classrooms. They told me of their dreams about one day leaving Gaza.
Due to no electricity in the evenings the children told me about how they read books at night with the aid of torches. I also heard of a horror story, regrading candles.
Long, tragic story very short, as it’s far too depressing to really go into. The candles lit by the parents so the children could read were knocked over, setting fire to the bedroom. The children died.
October 2023
Hamas fighters breaking through and on the ground in Israel, the taking of hostages and dragging them back to Gaza is totally unprecedented. It is total failure by the usually very competent Israeli security services.
Some of the photos you see here are of people I have met in refugee camps in Gaza.
They have, in the past few days, been bombed. I have no idea if these people are alive.
I’ve been in schools in Gaza, and many civilians are now sheltering in there. I hope they are safe.
I have been in Gaza three times and directly on the Israeli side, Ashkelon and Sderot.
As of writing, Israel is still under attack and Gaza is being pummelled by the IDF.
Israel has a right to exist and the right to defend itself. Never before has it been so brutally attacked. Questions will soon no doubt be asked. How did this happen?
As for Palestinians in Gaza, they live in the biggest prison camp in the world. This cannot go on.
But how do we break this never-ending cycle of sickening violence?
“Free Palestine!” scream the well-intended on social media. I guess they have never been there, so have no idea how complicated this all is. Free Gazans yes, but firstly from Hamas.
Here are some of the quotes that ordinary Gazans told me.
“I want to leave this prison.”
“Most of us do not support either Fatah or Hamas. We just want peace.”
“We’re like animals in a zoo.”
“Whatever this land is called in the future, Israel or Palestine, I don’t really care, just take down the wall, open the checkpoints and let us be free.”
Only when Hamas and other groups are defeated can life even begin to move forward. Then Israel simply must agree to take down these walls.
Two million people cannot and should not be forced to live like this.
As for those Israelis taken hostage and dragged back to Gaza, I dread to even think…
Call me a dreamer, but I say this. Once the terror has been stopped, talks have taken place, the border with Gaza opened and Palestinians allowed to work in Israel, it should be one country, from the land to the sea, with no walls, no division, no checkpoints.
Jews, Muslims, Christians and atheists all living side by side, in peace.
Sadly, it won’t happen. Far too many vested interests.
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