A Plea from Gaza: Israel Bombing Campaign Is Turning My Homeland into a "Wasteland"

The Israeli bombing campaign of Gaza has killed at least 222 Palestinians, including 63 children, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects growing international calls for a ceasefire. The Norwegian Refugee Council has revealed 11 of the children killed in Gaza were taking part in a program to help them deal with trauma from growing up in the besieged enclave. At least six residents of Gaza died in Israeli strikes overnight, including the radio journalist Yousef Abu Hussein. In the West Bank, Israeli forces on Tuesday killed at least four Palestinians taking part in a historic general strike to protest Israeli atrocities, which united Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and inside Israel. Israel's bombing campaign has destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure, from sewage systems to clean drinking water supplies. Israel is turning Gaza into a wasteland," says Aya Alghazzawi, a Palestinian activist based in Gaza who writes for We Are Not Numbers.