From my Apartment

January 4, 2009 Tonight, the news channels cannot get the television feed from Ramattan Gaza Live. Perhaps the Israelis have intensified the ground and aerial assault to such a degree that Hamas can no longer run its television station. Also Al-Arabiyya seems to have lost its contact with Hanan Al-Masri broadcasting direct from Gaza. Fortunately I still have a cassette recording of her.

BBC world did interview Hanan Ashrawi in Ramallah. The Israeli ground forces now control the farm fields around Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon on the north, after considerable fighting in which about 25 civilians were killed. They are reported to have moved south of Gaza city which is mostly farm fields and orange orchards, accross the sites of the Bronze age cities like Tell Farah to their old fortified compound and settlement of Nasiriyya, on the sea. In the south, they are surrounding Rafah, their favorite place of bulldozing, where Rachel Corrie was killed by one of the military bulldozers, made probably by Caterpillar in the US.

Al-Arabiyya, like BBC is reporting that the Israelis have divided Gaza into three separate areas.

Depressing that the World can't stop Israel from repeating in Gaza what it does in the West Bank: imposing its military settlements inhabited by armed settlers.

You can download and hear the BBC World TV interview with Hanan Ashrawi here.

(During my lunch break from teaching today, I was able to record Hanan Al-Masri telling Al-Arabiyya about the movements of Israeli ground forces in Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya. You can download it here to hear her.