Erica Silverman reports on the women of Beit Hanoun, as they in vain aid Palestinian efforts to end the Israeli incursion into Gaza A Palestinian woman in Beit Hanoun raises a black head scarf saturated with blood crying "God is great", after two women nearby were shot dead by Israeli forces conducting the tritely named "Operation Autumn Clouds" in the Gaza Strip. Israeli infantry troops and armoured vehicles entered Beit Hanoun last Wednesday, beginning the largest Israeli military incursion into Gaza since 25 June. Israeli troops began their withdrawal on Tuesday morning after holding 40,000 residents under siege for a week without food supplies, electricity and water. Sixty-two Palestinians were killed, including 32 civilians, four women, 11 children and two medics. 201 were injured, including more than 100 women and 57 children, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. One Israeli soldier was killed, while Israel claims 50 gunmen were killed on the Palestinian side. "This is not an escalation, this is a massacre, these are war crimes being perpetrated by the Israeli government infront of the world," said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. "Those countries who ask us to submit to this blind occupation are wrong," he declared after Friday Prayer in Gaza City. On Friday nearly 500 Palestinian women, mostly from Hamas, confronted Israeli ground forces that had cornered 50 militants inside Al-Nasser Mosque in Beit Hanoun and proceeded to successfully rescue them. Scores of women wearing headscarves and long coats traversed dirt mounds, weaving around Israeli tanks to avoid shelling, some carrying children and waving white flags in order to reach the mosque. "As women we have the ability to fight and face the Israeli enemy," said Hamas parliament member Jamila Shante, who participated in the rescue mission. "We called over the loudspeakers in the morning and encouraged the women to come, and they came, carrying extra clothes, enabling the militants to escape amongst them," recounted Shante. Hamas reported that all of their fighters escaped unharmed. "We are proud, we came unarmed and enabled the fighters to escape," she said. It was one of the bloodiest days of the incursion. Israeli forces shot one woman in the mouth and a second one in the head as women rushed to collect the fallen to deliver them to ambulances hovering nearby. A steady stream of victims flowed into Kamal Edwan Hospital, located in Beit Lahiya outside of Beit Hanoun. Hospital staff frantically tried to cope with the rush of patients, short on basic supplies such as bandages and antibiotics. "Israel fired directly into the woman," said hospital director Dr Saed Judah, who reported a third woman had been shot in the chest. "The majority of the injured were women and children under 16," added Judah. "The dead arrived at Al-Shiffa Hospital [Gaza's primary hospital] severely cut and fragmented, with severely burned skin and underlying tissue," said surgeon and Head of Public Relations Dr Juma As-Saqa, "Victims were sprayed with hundreds [of pieces] of shrapnel." He asserted that Israel has been using unconventional weaponry against the Gazan population since 25 June, citing the large number of amputees, some completely disfigured from the weaponry. "Autumn Clouds" hit the civilian population harder than previous operations during Israel's more than four-month-long incursion into Gaza, purportedly to halt the launching of Al-Qassam rockets into Israel and to secure the recovery of an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas. 352 Palestinians have died and 1,283 injured, including 415 children during the on-going invasion, according to the PA Health Ministry. Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone, confining residents to their homes in order to conduct door-to- door searches to locate Palestinians on their 'wanted' list, and to conduct interrogations. Israeli forces called over loud speakers for all male residents between the ages of 16 to 45 to stand outside their homes. Hundreds of Palestinian suspects were taken for questioning, according to the Israeli army, claiming they uncovered large amounts of weaponry. Major entrances to the area were blocked with Israeli tanks and dirt mounds, while ambulances waited for victims to fall. Meanwhile Al-Qassam, Hamas' military wing, and Islamic Jihad announced through official statements they were firing at the Israeli forces inside Beit Hanoun, and were launching rockets into Israel. Hamas claims they were holding fire before 25 June, and had lost five or six fighters over the past week. There is a special women's unit within Hamas that is trained and works to support Hamas. According to a senior Hamas official, the women's rescue mission was a decision taken by the military wing. "The women who participated were from Al-Qassam," said the Hamas official, adding "We have intelligence regarding the movement of Israeli tanks, and fighters move according to this information. Women are part of this intelligence apparatus." A female member of Islamic Jihad attempted to conduct a suicide bombing against Israeli forces on Monday. The female bomber exploded after being stopped by Israeli forces, injuring one soldier. "300 Al-Qassam [rockets] have been shot from Beit Hanoun into Israel," according to Israeli army spokesperson Major Avital Leibovitz. The goal of the operation is to "hit the people involved in shooting Al-Qassam [rockets] into Israel", said Leibovitz, although 40,000 residents were trapped inside Beit Hanoun for over a week while the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN World Food Programme, and the Red Cross were all trying to deliver emergency assistance. "It's a dreadful situation of death, destruction and despair inside Beit Hanoun," stated John Ging, director of UNRWA in Gaza, after his agency delivered emergency supplies such as water, fuel, food parcels, and mattresses. Residents called to UN workers for help, and were only permitted to leave their homes for a brief period to stock up on supplies, although most stores were closed. After delivering assistance for a third day, Ging described the damage to Beit Hanoun as "extensive destruction to the road and water networks, electricity grid, and communication systems". UNRWA reported difficulties in coordinating ambulances due to Israeli forces stationed outside the hospitals. "The innocent civilians are paying the price of political failure with their lives," said Ging. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement that he "is deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of violence and rising death toll caused by the Israeli military operation in northern Gaza", urging Israel to exercise restraint. Taking a different stance, US State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said "the reason why all of this developed in the first place is because you have continuing attacks on Israel from Palestinian Authority areas." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Gaza Monday night to continue talks between Fatah and Hamas to form a national unity government. Both parties are hoping the new government will break the political and economic embargo instituted by the US and the EU after the Hamas-led government was sworn into office. Prime Minister Haniyeh told Al-Ahram Weekly that "Hamas has the right to select the next prime minister who will only speak for the national government, and will not necessarily express the official position of Hamas." As of Tuesday, no selection had been made. "This will allow the president to start the peace process with Israel and to negotiate. Hamas will not place obstacles in President Abbas' political path."
