#LateHumansofGaza: The Abu Sadas or how Israeli airstrikes hit the same family in the same spot twice in Palestine

The story began with the tragic killing of 24-year-old Hadeel Abu Sada in an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia Refugee Camp on October 16. This devastating event occurred on the very day of her wedding, which was postponed indefinitely.

I wanted to add her face and story to the #LateHumansofGaza post, to give her a voice and try to tell the world that she is not a number, she is a human.

Late Hadeel was supposed to marry the cheerful young man behind her on 
16 October but fate had another plan and the wedding was called off to be
replaced with a funeral 

However, it evolved into another narrative, unveiling a broader background story that mirrors the plight of numerous Palestinians, be it in Gaza or the West Bank. No one prepared me for what I found.

#NotNumbers : Late Humans of Gaza “Updated- Graphic material”

"And if they ask you about Gaza... Tell them:  In it, there is a martyr  nursed by a martyr  photographed by a martyr sent off by a martyr  and prayed for by a martyr"

----------------------------------------------------- Mahmoud Darwish on Gaza

With over 6500 people including over 1800 children killed and over 16,000 others injured as the medical care in the city of Gaza is on the verge of total collapse, this blog post is an attempt to give those numbers especially the killed ones a face and a name.

Angels in Gaza by Egyptian illustrator and cartoonist 
Doaa El-Adl 

The victims of the Israeli attack on Gaza are not numbers, they were humans who had names, lives and dreams.

This blog post is dedicated to the humans of Gaza who are not numbers. 

It is updated.

On Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza released a full report with the names of the victims from 7-26 October to fire back at the claims of US President Joe Biden that he did not trust the "Hamas" Health Ministry. 

Here is a link to the full report in Arabic with the information on the victims including full name, ages and gender. In the first two pages, you will find a whole family lost 88 people, a whole bloodline and generations !! 

According to the info released in the period from 7-26 October, 7028 people were killed including 2,193 children 

Warning: Readers’ discretion is advised.

Handala in the Pitch: How Naji al-Ali’s Palestinian National symbol took Egypt’s football world by storm

On Saturday, Zamalek SC faced off against Smouha SC in the Egyptian Premiere. In a powerful act of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the Zamalek players ensured that Palestine was front and centre in the game.

They made their entrance into the stadium donning the Palestinian Kufiyah, although some have claimed it wasn’t the original design.

Zamalek SC's Fatouh wearing the Palestinian Kufiyeh "Photo: Zamalek SC" 

During their warm-up session before the game, the players sported the official jersey of the Palestine team.

Gaza war 2023: The Baptist Hospital Massacre

For the past 72 hours, the world's attention shifted away from the ongoing situation in Gaza, marked by countless war crimes against its citizens, including the enduring inhuman siege. 

Instead, the focus turned to the defense of the Israeli army against allegations of bombing  Al-Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital, known among Palestinians simply as the Baptist Hospital.

Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital commonly known as the Baptist Hospital

Established in 1882, the Baptist Al-Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital, or the Baptist National Arab Hospital, stands as one of Gaza's oldest medical institutions. Managed by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, this institution is a unique complex encompassing both a church and hospital buildings.

The Dean of Jerusalem's St. George's College, Reverend Richard Sewell, who supervises the hospital, informed the BBC on Tuesday that, by the end of the previous week, approximately 6,000 displaced individuals, mostly Muslims, had sought refuge in the hospital's courtyard.

Gaza's Baptist Hospital in the early 19th century 

In the preceding week, an Israeli airstrike caused damage to a section of the hospital complex. 

However, a heartwarming video shortly before the bombardment revealed that the courtyard had been transformed into a playground, offering a glimmer of solace to Palestinian children amid the relentless turmoil of war by volunteers like late artist Mohammed Sami. “A painter, Sami who recorded the video was killed in the bombing. It was his last video”

Gaza War 2023: Why do those Gaza toddlers and babies shake like that? “Warning : Extreme Graphic”

In recent days, I've lost count of the distressing scenes I've witnessed in Gaza—lifeless bodies of children and women.

The countless instances of injured women and children have become a daily, agonizing ritual.

It's a heart-wrenching reality, and you can never become desensitized to it, given the relentless stream of horrifying images that flood in hour by hour.

Baby girl holding on it her father with all force in Gaza after 
surviving an Israeli  airstrike 

However, certain videos have left me utterly shaken.

They depict heart-wrenching and shocking moments involving children, toddlers, and babies, unlike anything I've seen before, whether in this conflict or any other war."

Again warning: Extreme graphic material

A Guide to Middle East Conflict: Why Egypt Opposes Resettlement or Hosting of Gaza's Palestinians in Sinai

I'm writing this post early on a Saturday morning, feeling truly exhausted, whether from the demands of news coverage or the emotional toll that the news itself takes on a person. "P.S. I am publishing this on Sunday morning; that's how drained I am."

It all started early Friday morning when we awoke to an Israeli ultimatum directed at the Palestinians residing in North Gaza, instructing them to move to the South due to an impending Israeli military operation despite the local and international rejection of such an order.

Rafah crossing from Egypt's side 

Approximately 1.1 million people call North Gaza home. Many made the difficult decision to stay, driven by the desire not to repeat the mistakes of their forebears in 1948. Around 70% of Gaza's residents, particularly in the North, are descendants of Palestinian refugees who were displaced during the Nakba by Zionist terrorist gangs.

Their grandparents were promised they could return to their homes in cities like Yafa soon after defeating the Zionist gangs, but this promise turned out to be empty. Some believe that leaving their homes and land without putting up a fight was not a mistake, but a grave sin.

Now, some of their grandchildren and their families have chosen not to leave their homes in North Gaza and to remain. 

This decision was not influenced by claims that "Hamas stopped them," as falsely stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during his recent Mideast-Arab tour. How do we know this? Well, Palestinians in North Gaza still have access to the internet, and some have shared their last wishes.

While some Palestinians have managed to leave the area, others have embarked on a perilous journey to the unknown, once again becoming refugees in their own land.

Tragically, a convoy of cars carrying North Gaza residents was struck by an Israeli airstrike, resulting in the loss of at least 70 lives and leaving 200 others injured. We have received verified photos and videos, and the scenes are nothing short of horrifying.

Now, everything I mentioned above is directly tied to the central question posed in the title of this post: "Why does Egypt reject the resettlement/displacement/hosting of Palestinian refugees in Sinai as a means to shield them from this military operation? And why do the Palestinians also reject this proposal?"

This post helps clarify the situation. It is your guide. 

October war 2023 : Reshaping the Middle East again

Why can't I write anything about the war in Palestine? Because it is so damn big, dangerous and changing to the level that I can say that it is from the events that can change the course of life in the Middle East. We are on the verge of a new Middle East

Also, I do not have time like in the past to cover what is happening there especially with the misinformation flood taking social media by storm, especially on Twitter. 

I found videos from Syria, Libya and even Palestine shared as videos from the Hamas attack and Israeli attack. I found rumours and crazy conspiracy theories that reached the level that the whole matter was a charade and Psyop !! Yes, a psyop. People are dead and dying and it is a psyop !! 

I found out that Russians and Ukrainians got involved along with the huge numbers of Hindutva trolls in India. 

Also, the war came at the time we were in Egypt getting for the Presidential elections and its circus, economic crisis with no end and other issues. Hell, I just want to write something about Presidential Hopeful Ahmed Tantawy before he gets into legal trouble for real.

It was like the last thing we expected or wanted in this critical time. It is unlike your usual Israel X Gaza’s militant groups fight that erupts annually. This is a full-swing war I can’t remember something like that. It is like those wars with Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

It also came at the same time Egypt was celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the 6 October 1973 war. “I prepared some posts, but I do not think I will be able to share anything now.”

Now let me share with you some Egyptian wisdom without any arrangement for real I compile what I think through the week. This is what I think.  "Professionally speaking, I cover this war from the Egyptian perspective in my work as a journalist."

“A quieter Middle East”: The other Middle East in parallel Universe

Two weeks ago, US President Joe Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said confidently in a public think tank meeting in Washington that the Middle East is quieter today than it has been in two decades.

Jake Sullivan

I do not know if he was serious, in denial, or demonstrating the US's true intent to leave the Middle East to deal with "its own shit." Whatever the case may be, I know that the Middle East is not quieter today than it has been in two decades. In fact, things are getting from bad to worse.

Let’s see the Middle East’s map and I will exclude the Palestinian territories.

Egypt in the past 10 days (Vol.2)

I could not update or write anything on the blog for ten days or something because whenever I started on something, another huge thing happened that needed attention.

At the same time, I battled some cold or the flu or that variant and it already weakened me as I realized firsthand how due to the economic crisis, the effective material in Egyptian medicines “once a top product of Egypt highly demanded in the Arab world” was reduced due to importation woes.

In fact, I do not know if they are ten days or more, but I know I was starting an attempt to do something about Egypt’s victims in Libya’s Derna Deluge tragedy. If my calculations are right, we have the biggest human loss for Egyptian expats across the borders.

Nevertheless, nobody is ready to speak about it or hear it.

Busy ten days 

I hate to say it, but I am trying to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the October War but the shadow of what is happening whether the elections circus or rather that battle of proxies on one side and the economic developments in the past 48 hours from another side do not give me a chance.

Needless to say, I feel that this is the quietest anniversary Egypt has seen so far despite all knowing that there are huge preparations for big celebrations involving air shows and so on because it is the jubilee. Maybe the airshows will be held on the Egyptians Air Forces Day.

Now here is a terrible summary of what is happening in Egypt and outside and you tell me how I can deal with all that.

The Menendez Halal’s bribe allegations

On 22 September, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams and the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation “FBI” James Smith unsealed the indictment charging US Senator Robert Menendez, his wife Nadine Arslanian Menendez and three other men including Egyptian-American Wael Hana aka Will Hana with federal bribery charges.