One of the NGOs we support and have a long relationship with was so badly hit by the 7/10 massacre that my wife and had no hesitation about going to help. The NGO arranged our visas and it took us an hour to get through security at Ben Gurion. Fair enough. Been here 3 weeks now.
We are in Ashdod, one of the most bombed places in Israel because, even if it's not the target, a lot of bombs meant for Tel Aviv crash here. The Iron Dome does a great job but Hamas etc know that if they fire sufficient missiles some of them will get through. We are so close to Gaza that when the siren goes off - it's the same as the one they started playing at Goodison pre-match - you literally have seconds to make it to the safety of the bomb shelter.
The NGO brings babies and young children, usually with life-threatening conditions, from surrounding countries to Israel for specialist medical care unavailable in their own countries. The children, usually accompanied by one or both parents or an aunt or grandmother, come from the likes of Iraq, Jordan, Kurdistan, the West Bank and, especially, Gaza. When we got here there were 9 Gazan children here, plus 3 Kurdish and one from the West Bank.
Most of the staff here are not Jewish but most of the doctors and nurses dealing with the babies are. Even in normal times this can bewilder some of the parents who have been taught all their life that Jews are the personification of evil, demons out to kill them.
Amongst my jobs here are driving, writing the various weekly newsletters to supporters, and general dogsbody. It's very different from our quiet life in the Peak District.
It is always a stressful time for the families as not all the children can be saved. So you can imagine the effects of 7/10 on them, especially the Gazans who have left family and friends behind. Worried sick, bewildered, frightened, angry - words are inadequate. They are unable to return home - if they still have one - and spend their time trying to contact people or frantically scouring social media videos for glimpses of their loved ones or home town or village.
A few days after we arrived we were bolstered by the arrival of two friends from Jordan who have taken time off from their jobs to help. And last week we were virtually back to full strength when a mother and daughter from the US and a German woman arrived - none of them had been to Israel before so am full of admiration for them for coming; no-one would have blamed them for cancelling.
One of the Gazan mothers has taken over the kitchen - glorious food. I think it's her way of saying thank you.
The families that are here are always very supportive of each other but after 7/10 arguments broke out between the Kurdish and Gazan families and also amongst the Gazans. It was decided to move the Kurds into one of the staff houses.
Saw Netanyahu on tv - looked a broken man. Gantz and Gollant looked authoritative - disappointed Lapid decided not to join the government, Understand his reason but think it a mistake, Saw an interview with Marzouk - "The tunnels are for our fighters. The people are not our responsibility. They are the responsibility of the UN."
We've been told that the body of one of the volunteers from here has been identified - it was thought she may have been taken hostage. Her husband also died, while her children and grandchildren are missing.
The government announced that all Gazans who are able have to leave the country - it's aimed at the workers who were trapped here on 7/10, but it also applies to our families. Three were due to go home - obviously impossible - but we managed to find a place in the West Bank where they will still have medical supervision, access to a decent hospital, and only an hour away if they need to come back. Two of the staff have gone with them.
One of the Gazan mothers is here with her little son who first came here in May 22 and has been in hospital this time since September. Eventually he was released from hospital but had to go back 5 days later when a viral infection caused his lungs to start filling up with fluid. His mother had left her other three children with her sister in Gaza and phoned them every day. They assured her that they'd been told they were in a safe place, that the Jews would not attack them.
Then we heard the IDF had attacked that area. She frantically phoned her children and sister - no answer. She rang a neighbour who told her that her sister's building had completely collapsed. The neighbour went to the hospital and phoned back to say she'd seen the bodies of the three children.
There are people here who are trained to help parents cope with bereavement but this time they were helpless. Amongst the first to try to console her were the Kurdish families. I can only hope that her son, still in hospital, survives and she can pour all her love into him.
Following this the Kurdish families have moved back in.
A couple of days before someone spotted this online:
The children are asked, "Are the children of Gaza afraid of the bombings and planes?" "NO!"
"Do you want to die as martyrs?" "YES!"
We are the children of Palestine/we do not fear death/we are not afraid of dying/we are all martyrs.
The glorification of martyrdom. Lambs to the slaughter. I've seen footage from 7/10 so horrific it will stay with me forever and I've seen the terrible devastation in Gaza but, in its own sick way, this is every bit as appalling.
Four of the parents wanted to visit Jerusalem, three to go to Al Aqsa while a Christian wanted to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was one of the days when only Muslims were allowed on the Temple Mount so the three of them went up there while we went to the church. It's normally a place I'd avoid as it is always jammed with tourists but this time there were actually more priests than visitors. This made it easier to appreciate its opulent beauty, but the wealth on show still makes me queasy. The families, though, were awestruck by their visits and seem comforted and happier.
One of the Kurdish families has flown home - two new ones have arrived. After being here for two weeks our friends from Jordan have gone back to their normal jobs. We managed to get an extension to our visas so will likely be here for a couple more months.
Saw Ben Gvir and one of his cronies talking nonsense as usual - good to see they have gone beyond the being criticised stage and are now ridiculed. Only the woefully weak Netanyahu keeps them in government.
Found out that one of the people killed at the music festival was a young woman who graduated from an academy set up by another NGO. My wife remembers her. Seems she had a chance to escape but went back to try to rescue her friends. Can only hope her death was instant.
Caught up with Everton highlights online - only two fathers here and they came over to watch. They watch mostly Spanish League rather than English but mentioned Salah; I changed the subject and looked for some clips of Messi. One of them is very shy, as is his wife so it was good to get him talking.
Saw an interview with Al-Hayya where he said they were not interested in bringing water and electricity to Gaza, neither are they interested in fuel or labourers (working in Israel) - they want permanent war, with the rest of the Arab world joining in. Meanwhile Ghazi Hamad doubled down on his "We would do it again whenever possible" statement. Poor Ghazi - once seen as the leader of the moderate wing in Hamas, he's now absconded to Lebanon, admitted that 'hudnas' were all a sham and now he's just another bloodstained thug in a suit.
Talking of bloodstained thugs, the Israelis seem to think that Sinwar is hiding out deep beneath Al-Shifa hospital. Maybe he is but he fled a previous conflict in the back of an ambulance and mysteriously took 6 days to appear in public after the ceasefire in 2021. I actually believe Haniyeh when he said they knew of the plan but not its timing - not that it makes them any less culpable. The massacre has Sinwar's fingerprints all over it and the analysts who reckoned his long rambling speech some 18 months ago was a power grab were probably right. As was the very astute Arab writer who suggested Sinwar was becoming frustrated and jealous of the successful policy of funding armed groups in the West Bank while Gaza remained quiet.
We had two days without any sirens going but then had a long one - Ashkelon hospital was hit for the third time. The childcare unit and a couple of others have been moved underground. The doctors and nurses - Jewish and Arab - are miracle workers. Despite this the schools in Ashdod have reopened to provide children with a semblance of normality and, because every school has a bomb shelter, it's the safest place for them to be.
The more I hear about UNRWA the more convinced I am that it has to go - replaced by UNHCR - or completely revamped from top to bottom - leadership, staff recruitment, and mission statement. I'm equally convinced it won't happen - too many vested interests, too much loss of face.
The lady who lost her children is still grieving but is at least now able to smile occasionally. Her religious faith remains intact and has been a source of comfort for her. Her little baby is still in hospital but she's been able to visit him and he should be out soon.
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I hear that the UK is obsessing about marches.
