Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

Testimony From The Heart Of Genocide: Palestinian Photographer Recounts The Horrors Of The“Al-Tabeen School Massacre” And The Destruction Of Al-Shifa Hospital In Gaza Deliberate Killing And Starvation


(MENAFN- Amman Net) The Palestinian photographer and filmmaker Zaher Saleh, who arrived from the Gaza Strip on a medical evacuation journey after suffering a life-threatening injury, recounted horrifying details of the genocide war waged by the Israeli occupation.

In an exclusive interview broadcast on Radio Al-Balad 92.5, Saleh confirmed that what he documented in the Strip is“one of the worst crimes against humanity in contemporary history.”An Unforgettable Scene: The Horror of the Al-Tabeen School MassacreZaher Saleh described the massacre at Al-Tabeen School as the most haunting and terrifying scene he will never forget from the entire war. He woke up at dawn (around 4:00 a.m.) inside Al-Mu'tadani (Baptist) Hospital to screams and wailing, only to be shocked by the arrival of children and women suffering from severe burns after the school they had taken shelter in was bombed rushed to the site and was the first journalist to arrive, describing the brutality of the scene:
“For the first time in my life I saw so many people torn apart... roughly more than 100 people shredded, all mixed together – bones with flesh with hair, you couldn't tell whose head it was, whose hand it was.”

He pointed out that the missiles used were incendiary and lethal, leaving the site extremely hot with a terrifying smell:“The place was still burning and the smell of charred human flesh filled the air.”Saleh Revealed the Israeli Occupation Army's Systematic Use of Rape as a Weapon of Humiliation and Collective Psychological BreakingSaleh explained that the Israeli army's tactic was to enter an entire area, completely destroy the neighborhood, arrest and torture all the men, and then rape the women.

The rapes sometimes took place in front of the detained men, or the women were taken to separate locations. He stressed that this systematic targeting was not limited to residential areas but also extended to prisons, affecting both men and women, with the primary goal being“psychological humiliation and the collective breaking of the people.

”The Social Stigma That Conceals the TruthZaher Saleh confirmed that the true extent of this crime has not been fully conveyed to the world because of harsh social and psychological constraints.

He revealed that a fellow journalist was preparing an investigative report for Al Jazeera about eight women who had been raped, but in the end the women refused to appear on camera.

Saleh explained that in Palestinian society, due to the sensitivity and severity of the crime,“a woman feels ashamed to even tell her own mother, so how could she appear on television?” This means the vast majority of these crimes are never publicly documented.

Nevertheless, Saleh emphasized that reports issued later proved that“rape was systematic.”Martyrdom and Injury: The Price of Conveying the TruthThe photographer recounted the details of his near-fatal injury: a shrapnel wound in his leg that severed the main artery connected to the heart, nearly costing him his life or his leg. Despite the danger, Zaher insisted that his duty as a“Gazan journalist” was greater than fear:
“If I, as a journalist and a son of Gaza, do not fulfill my duty toward my cause... no outsider will come to document it.”

He paid tribute to Palestinian journalists who paid a“huge price” and succeeded in conveying the image despite systematic targeting (approximately 256 journalists martyred).The Occupation's Claims About Al-Shifa Hospital Proven FalseSaleh spoke about documenting the siege and storming of Al-Shifa Hospital, confirming that the occupation's allegations of the existence of“resistance tunnels” or“rocket factories” inside the hospital were“lies.”

He said the occupation searched the hospital“inch by inch” but found nothing, so they destroyed vital medical equipment – including the only devices in Gaza for treating heart and kidney patients. He stressed that the targeting was not limited to hospitals but was a comprehensive destruction of“the entire Gaza Strip” and everyone who tried to help, including doctors, paramedics, and relief organizations Starvation: Aid Piled Up and Thrown at the Border CrossingThe Palestinian photographer described the siege as another war no less brutal, aimed at“creating this famine” deliberately.

Saleh revealed that at Kerem Abu Salem crossing he saw“humanitarian aid as far as the eye can see,” but the Israeli army deliberately prevented it from entering, saying:“They would seize the aid and dump it at the gate of the crossing.”

He confirmed that sacks of flour and food baskets were“thrown at the entrance of the crossing,” meaning the aid was physically present, but the decision to allow it in was used as a tool of pressure and starvation.

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