Gaza: We don't want to create an inconvenience

6 January 2009

Elena Qleibo is an Oxfam programme manager in Gaza. She has lived and worked in Gaza and the West Bank for 20 years. Originally from Costa Rica, she had the opportunity to leave Gaza as the bombing started but decided to stay in her home.

Fifteen minutes ago Israeli helicopters dropped leaflets saying we should move to the centre of the city as they are going to start bombing the edge. They said they don't want to create an inconvenience. That's a joke after the bombardment we have had in the last week. They have done this before, in the north and east of Gaza, to frighten people. Nobody in my building is moving.

The bombing is very heavy. I'm having a cup of coffee and trying to write something and I can hear the explosions, it's very very strong.

There's been no electricity for the past three days. We are much better off than many people, we have a generator and a well and we still have fuel. The generator was running for an hour so we have water. There are people near us who haven't had water for a week. People are going around trying to buy generators and find fuel to pump water.

Today I saw UN trucks coming from the Karni crossing. The problem is people are terrified of going out to the distribution point because the bombardment is so erratic. Also the trucks can't reach the areas where the fighting is.

I spoke to people who only have two or three days food left. I am well prepared, I have a week's worth of vegetables and other food to last me ten days, but people with less money aren't able to stockpile food.

This morning there were people on the streets but at 3pm today (MON) the leaflets were dropped and the bombing started in some areas so now there's no one on the streets.

I've been speaking to people in the refugee camps inside Gaza where the fighting has been heaviest and they are catatonic. They're paralysed. They don't know what's happening to them and are just sitting waiting to see what's going to happen. It's all been very sudden and because it's so massive everybody is very shocked. Children are having a lot of problems - they are crying and wetting the bed and not sleeping.

People in the outside world might think this is normal for Gaza, but it's not. People here never thought Israel would launch such a bloody attack. People are very despondent.