Monday 8 May: A Norwegian delegation from Save the Children goes to Gaza. One of them is Pål Christian Bergstrøm, regional director of Bufetat nord. He is also deputy chairman of the executive board of Save the Children. – Many children and families live in very demanding conditions, and the efforts made are important, he says. The plan was for them to meet children in Gaza, the Palestinian authorities and partners. Bergstrøm found that the first day went as expected. – It was quite calm, but we knew there had been unrest there before. But on the night of Tuesday they were woken up in the middle of the night. Five days – Israel launched airstrikes with both fighter jets and helicopter gunships. Then it slammed quite close to us. Three leaders of Islamic Jihad were killed in the attacks, and many civilians. A total of six children lost their lives in the attacks, says Bergstrøm. According to Bergstrøm, Islamic Jihad then responded by launching rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. – During the five days we were there, I think they sent up over 1,000 rockets from Gaza towards Israel. Israel of course retaliated with at least 1,001 rockets back, he says. A delegation from Save the Children stayed in a UN-branded hotel with a bomb room in the basement. Every time there was a crash nearby, they ran to safety. Several bombs and rockets hit near the hotel while they were there. These pictures of rocket attacks are taken from the Israeli army and are supposed to be from 10 May. The video will show several places on the Gaza Strip. Bergstrøm says that the windows in the hotel bulged out when rockets or bombs hit nearby. – It’s strange to say that you got a bit used to it eventually. When it had melted for a few days, we were not as quickly down in the bomb room, he says. Here, a rocket from Gaza hit Ashkelon, Israel. Difficult to find shelter news’s Middle East correspondent, Yama Wolasmal, says it is difficult to find shelter in Gaza during a bomb attack. – Two million people live there, densely packed. There are no bomb shelters. Every time the bombs fall, extreme fear is spread, he says. According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 34 Palestinians were killed during the bombing. Around half are said to have been civilians. – According to the Israeli Defense Forces, they went after high-ranking leaders in the Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad. They killed several of their leaders in the bomb attack, says Wolasmal. The attack triggered a rocket attack against Israel. An 80-year-old woman was killed and two others injured when a Palestinian rocket hit an apartment building in Rehovot south of Tel Aviv. Up to 4,000 rockets are said to have been fired, but most of these were shot down by Israel’s missile shield. – It happened what usually happens in Gaza. The discussion about who started this time is like the question of who came out of the chicken or the egg first, says Wolasmal. Yama Wolasmal is news’s Middle East correspondent. Photo: news Ceasefire Bergstrøm says that both the UN and the Norwegian authorities tried to negotiate a ceasefire, so that they could create a humanitarian corridor out of the area. 165 foreigners were visiting Gaza. They wanted to go home after the border was closed due to the attacks from both sides. Then there was a truce. On Saturday evening, Bergstrøm and the 164 others started the evacuation out of Gaza. – The ceasefire was supposed to come into force at 10pm on Saturday. We arrived at the border a little earlier and stood there at the same time as they launched rockets just a few hundred meters from the convoy where we were standing, says Bergstrøm. – It was quite a dramatic situation on the border, and we wondered for a while whether we had to return to Gaza City. On Sunday, they made it to Jerusalem. Now he is back in Tromsø, where he lives. – We must be particularly concerned about the children who live in such difficult conditions for such a long time, says Bergstrøm. – Here, both Norway and the international community must try to solve the deadlocked situation which in different ways damages so many children for life. That’s what I’m left with after this.
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Save the Children confined in Gaza after fighting – news Troms and Finnmark
