Kudos and hugs to Laila and her family
Palestinian journalist Laila el-Haddad has done a stupendously good job of blogging the Gaza war, despite the handicaps of (a) being the primary caregiver for her and her husband's two young children, and (b) having to deal with her enormous concern for her parents, both retired physicians, who have been in their Gaza City home throughout all this time, and for all her other relatives and friends in Gaza.
She and her kids are currently living with her husband who's doing a medical residency at Duke University in North Carolina. I know a little, from my own experience having to look after my young kids in a distant country while our former home in Beirut was being severely bombed by Israel back in 1982, how tough all aspects of that situation are. But Laila has dealt with it superbly-- for the benefit and illumination of all the rest of us.
If you haven't read Laila's blog recently, do go and do so. She has brought together so many important aspects of the war, including with the numerous updates from and about her parents.
Imagine being in the situation she was in Saturday, when she received from her father what he thought might be his last communication with his loved ones outside the Strip...
- Loved ones :
I thought to take few moments on the generator to write this email to you, It might be our last communication. The Israeli army has been heavily bombarding everything in GAZA now. They escalated their attack intensively after 4 AM. Tal El-Hawa is on fire ( I will attach photos that I took of smoke from burning buildings), they just fired a missile on one apartment in a huge apartment building in front of our house ( Borj Al-Shorook) I guess Laila knows it. Phosphorus bombs now are fired everywhere on houses and on people. UNRWA's main stores in GAZA were hit.
Hundreds of people are trapped in burning buildings in Tal El-Hawa and Al-Sabra and everywhere in GAZA. It is clear now that these people decided now to finish everyone and everything in GAZA strip. I still have faith in Allah.