War Crimes


American health care workers—

doctors, nurses, and paramedics,

working in Gaza

since October 7, 2023—

what have they witnessed?


Six children ages 5 to 12

with single gunshot wounds

to the skull

(Dr. Mohamad Rassoul Abu-Nuwar).


Children with gunshot wounds

bleeding out

on the hospital floor

(Nina Ng, nurse).


Several children shot

in both the head and the chest

with high velocity bullets

(Dr. Mark Perlmutter).


Four or five children,

ages 5 to 8,

with single shots

to the head

(Dr. Irfan Galaria).


A child

shot in the jaw,

choking

on his own blood

(Rania Afaneh, paramedic).


A 3-year-old

and a 5-year-old,

each with a sniper’s

bullet hole

in the head

(Dr. Khawaja Ikram).


An 18-month-old

little girl

with a gunshot wound

to the head

(Dr. Ahlia Kattan).


Children arriving

day after day

with bullet holes

in the head

(Dr. Ndal Farah).


When questioned

about these

and many similar

civilian “casualties,”

the I.D.F. claims

it is “committed

to mitigating civilian harm,”

in full compliance

with the international

Law of Armed Conflict.







The “Mosquito Protocol”


In the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City,

a senior officer of Israel’s Nahal Brigade

wraps an explosive cord,

             a necklace of death,

around the neck of an 80-year-old

Palestinian man

who walks with a cane.

He must do as he is told,

or his head will explode.

As the man’s wife watches,

             he walks,

             with his cane,

             for eight terrifying hours

through abandoned houses,

shielding the brigade’s soldiers

from bombs or hostile fire.

The elderly man’s mission finally accomplished,

he and his wife are ordered to “evacuate”

             on foot

to a “humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza.

After walking a hundred meters or so

however

they are shot down by a separate Israeli battalion.

“They died like that,

             in the street,”

says a soldier.