Dr. Mustafa Barghouti: Israel uses unknown dangerous weapons as the aggression on Gaza continues

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative stated that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip, as airstrikes from Israeli F-16 warplanes, navel artillery, and tank shelling continued relentlessly throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

Dr. Barghouti arrived to the Gaza Strip yesterday as a statement of solidarity with the Gazan people. Israel’s military offensive on Gaza has, thus far, killed over 140 Palestinians, 32 of whom children. Over 1,100 Palestinians, 40% of whom are children, have been injured as a result of the bloody weeklong military campaign. Yesterday’s assault coincided with World Children's Day, yet Israel continued to target innocent civilian, including hundreds of innocent children.

“I am completely horrified by the scenes I witnessed in Gaza City’s Shafa Hospital,” says Dr. Barghouti, who reports seeing children’s bodies shattered into pieces, and the bodies of women and children burned all over. “These kind of deaths ultimately confirm the brutality and crimes of the Israeli occupation,” says Dr. Barghouti.

Doctors at Shifa Hospital have affirmed that the types of internal injuries they are seeing—internal wounds no trace of which can be found on the body’s surface—indicate Israel’s potential use of new types of weapons. “We believe they [the Israeli military] have been using depleted uranium shells,” reveals Barghouti. 

Barghouti also expressed condemnation of Israel’s unchecked aggression against journalists, which has led to the deaths of both Hossam Mohammed Komi and Mohammed Abu Eisha, in addition to severely wounding seven other journalists and the amputation of one man’s leg. The number of journalists killed and wounded clearly illustrate that the Israeli military are targeting those who are trying to uncover and expose the truth to the rest of the world.

“This is not a war, this is a massacre,” says Barghouti, arguing that Israel plainly wants to record the largest number of deaths possible and will continue to do so with impunity. 

“I have been a medical doctor for over 33 years,” says Barghouti, “I have witnessed countless wars and atrocities but I have never before seen this level of brutality.” 

While in Gaza, Dr. Barghouthi met with PMRS teams operating within the besieged Strip and was briefed on the progress of their work in order to assess their needs and develop a contingency plan to help the Palestinian citizens of Gaza during these difficult circumstances.