Gaza Residents Endure Worst-ever Israeli Onslaught...

With no end in sight of the Israeli aggression, residents in Gaza are holding up despite the catastrophic situation, said a Palestinian journalist living in the besieged territory.

Saleh Jadallah said the current onslaught on Gaza which has claimed more than 1,700 Palestinian lives since July 8, was the worst he had experienced.

"There is no doubt that this war is the worst one in what I could judge by the death toll, destruction, energy crisis, shortages of food supplies and number of the internally-displaced people.

"Literally, there is no safe place in Gaza...people who stay inside their houses are targeted," he said in an email to Bernama Sunday.

"If they take refuge in a UN (United Nations) school, they will be shelled based on several incidents.

“Walking and moving in the streets makes an easy target, (as) a few days ago, 20 Palestinians were killed near a market,” said the 25-year-old Saleh who works part-time for an international media organisation.

Saleh said he had survived two wars in just five years but was not sure if he would survive the ongoing conflict.

“My wife and son are always concerned about me when I go to work. I feel the same way when I leave them in the house.

“We bid each other farewell every day when we separate, no one knows the destiny.

“I try my best to be with them as much as I can, as I have to comfort them and take care of them,” said Saleh who got married in February last year. His son is nine-months-old.

He said Gaza residents believe they have been “dying for eight years since the blockade (on the Palestinian enclave)" was imposed by the Israeli regime.

“Now, they have nothing to lose so they seek seriously to continue until the blockade is lifted, that's what dozens of residents whom I interviewed, had said,” added Saleh.

Asked what he felt about the huge rally attended by thousands of Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur yesterday to protest the Israeli violence against the Palestinians, he said the residents in Gaza had high regard for Malaysia.

“I have a lot of Malaysian friends and I understand very well how much they care about Palestinian civilians.

“They are always the first to offer all kinds of help for children, women and families of victims here (in Gaza).

"A lot of Gaza residents here respect the Malaysian stance even more than the Arab countries.

“It is my steady thought that although Malaysians and Palestinians are geographically separated, yet we are heartily connected...Malaysians and Palestinians are one,” he said.