23-year-old blogger and Gaza City resident Sameh Habeeb describes living conditions under Israeli fire. He's been in Gaza City with his family since the beginning of Israel's military offensive.
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LISA MULLINS: Meanwhile the Israeli offensive in Gaza continues and the humanitarian crisis there gets worse by the day. The death toll among Palestinians has now risen to more than 700. Some humanitarian groups estimate that about half the dead are civilians. It's impossible to verify that figure since Israel is barring foreign reporters from entering Gaza. Today the United Nations announced that it is halting food deliveries in the territory. It says UN workers are under increasing danger from Israeli fire. This after an Israeli tank shell hit a UN relief convoy killing two aid workers. Seven hundred fifty thousand Palestinian civilians depend on UN food aid in Gaza, and everyone there is finding it tough to get food and water. Right now we're gonna hear from one Gaza resident, 23-year-old Sameh Habeeb. He lives in Gaza City and he's been blogging about what's happening there. Public Broadcasting's Youth Radio reached him after a pause in the violence yesterday.
SAMEH HABEEB: The area where I live is very hot, a hot bed for clashes and maybe you could hear in the background the sound of the Israeli drones. These drones are like a small airplane in which it takes photos and videos. There was a three-hour cease fire that took place today in Gaza Strip and this cease fire, it brought some hope for the people. All the people got outside and they tried to get some food, some bread, and tried to seek some water because we don't have enough water. So I quickly just came to my house and I have brought some like sweets, because we are being like under the Israeli bitterness of this war for the past 12 days. So, I guess, I'm afraid for my family, trying to alleviate the boredom, trying to change the atmosphere inside my house, because we are really living in a very painful and panicked status since the start of this war. Everyone, everybody in my house is having like assignment, everyone is being assigned to make a mission. One is like assigned to bring water, another one is to bring like, some candles, another one is to bring some bread. The main talk here in our house is when this village will pull out their forces, when they will assault finish, and another thing, what will they do? Will they go and invade the Gaza Strip? Should we leave our house and go inside Gaza? What should we do? I hope that peace will be happening. I hope the United Nations resolutions will be implemented for Palestine. I hope our state will be created soon, we need that strongly. We don't need just to hear these buzzing drones and these scary, frightening rockets whistling out of my house. I don't need more shrapnels to come into my house. I need to be safe with my family. I don't want this to go longer and longer.
MULLINS: And that was Sameh Habeeb, a 23-year-old living in Gaza City. You can read his blog and see some of his photographs at theworld.org.
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Sameh Habeeb's photos