Chapter 21 17.Gaza under martial law

When night falls, fishing boats moored on the shore The lights flicker in the air, dominating the night and separating the sea. —Stevens Gaza (Gaza) is located in the south of Israel, close to the Egyptian border, on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, and is an important sea gateway of Israel. The word "Gaza" is a Canaanite word meaning "mighty one". At the end of the 18th century, during Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, he attacked Acre, a strategic location in northern Palestine.Gaza City was built by the Canaanites as early as 3000 BC.It is one of the oldest cities in the world.When Greek culture was at its peak, it became one of the centers for spreading Greek culture.In the early centuries AD, schools here were considered the best for teaching philosophy, rhetoric, and oratory, and even Greek students came here to study.Gaza has fertile land, abundant fresh water, surrounded by orchards, producing grapes, bananas, wild figs, citrus and olives.The area around Gaza City, about 40 kilometers long, 6-8 kilometers wide, and 300 square kilometers in area, is called the "Gaza Strip." After the first Middle East war in 1948, the "Palestine War", it was under the jurisdiction of Egypt, and in 1967, after the third Middle East war, the "Six-Day War", it was occupied by Israel.The residents of the Gaza Strip are mainly Palestinians, and there are also a small number of nomadic Bedouins (Bedouins, Arabs who are nomadic in the desert areas of Arabia and North Africa. "Bedouin" in Arabic means "nomads who live in tents." "). In 1978, Sadat and Begin reached an Egyptian-Israeli ceasefire, and Israel declared Gaza autonomy, but it has not fulfilled its promise so far.

On February 4, the Israeli government agreed to allow some journalists to enter the martial-lawed Gaza Strip.I rented a car with Takashi Matsukawa and Yoshioka Yoshioka from Tokyo Shimbun, Ta Anfit from Indonesian Tempo magazine, and Yuan Guoqiang from Hong Kong AsiaNews to Gaza. Traveling south from Tel Aviv, you can see swarms of "Patriot" missile groups along the way, excavators are building new launch positions, and UH-1H Huey gunships pass by the sky from time to time.Wheeled transport vehicles transporting light tanks can occasionally be encountered on the road.A C-130 Hercules transport plane on the right front is flying towards Gaza.

At the entrance to the Gaza Strip, 20 or 30 journalists from various countries have already gathered at the guard booths and waited for the formalities to enter Gaza.There is a fast food restaurant in a van that is surprisingly expensive.I bought a cake similar to a sandwich and a can of Coca-Cola, which cost me 40 shekels, or more than 20 dollars.Tired of waiting, Ms. Wang Limei from Taiwan's "China Times" simply took a photo with the Israeli army holding M-16 rifles.An Israeli soldier named Amir pestered Wang Limei for her mailing address, "because this was the first time he took a photo with the girl."Seeing that I was curious about the rifle, Amir simply took off his "Jalil" to entertain me.This new rifle imitating the American M-16 has excellent wind and sand resistance, and the caliber is the same as the M-16, which is also 5.56 mm. The American M-16 automatic rifle is a small-caliber weapon that began to be equipped with the U.S. military after the 1960s. Rifle, it concentrates the advantages of many rifles in terms of structure, such as small caliber, high muzzle velocity, few parts, light weight and strong lethality.At present, small-caliber rifles have become the development trend of infantry weapons.The rifles equipped by the Israeli army are mainly the M-16 and the Israeli-made Galil.The "56" and "63" rifles commonly used in our country are improved versions of the Soviet Kalashnikov rifles. Like the Warsaw Pact Group, the caliber is 7.62 mm, of which the AK-47 and AK-M are the most famous.

Under the escort of several military jeeps equipped with four-meter-long whip antennas, the reporter convoy entered the mysterious Gaza Strip.On the side of the road was an endless orange grove, and three Palestinian women in black robes were sitting on a donkey cart full of baskets of oranges.In the middle of the road, two Bedouin children were driving a group of dirty, skinny sheep.There were almost no pedestrians to be seen, and there were military vehicles speeding around with low beams on, and the windshields of the cars were equipped with wire-woven protective nets.There is a mosque in the front left, lonely and hidden in the orange grove, next to a herd of camels, and a cactus as tall as a person.

Our convoy is always speeding at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, letting the scenery on both sides be fleeting. Takashi Matsukawa of the "Tokyo Shimbun" asked the driver to drive slowly so that he could enjoy the sights.The driver said no, we must follow the convoy closely, otherwise it will be dangerous.Moving forward, there are more and more groups of camels. The driver said that they all belong to the Bedouins, and each camel can be sold for 16,000 US dollars.At that time, I felt like a devil entering the village, and I was one of the devils. At 1:00 p.m., we arrived in the small town of Nosserat. There was no pedestrian on the street here, only Israeli soldiers wearing bowl-shaped helmets wrapped in camouflage cloth and flat-ended M-16 rifles.The jeeps protecting us blocked the intersection, and the soldiers jumped out of the jeeps, their Garrill rifles leveled, legs spread, ready to fight.The walls here are covered with colorful anti-Israeli slogans. In a small window on the top of the two-story building facing the street, dozens of pairs of angry eyes flashed. All the Palestinians were locked in their homes.The Hong Kong reporter who was traveling with me told me that since the Gulf crisis, Gaza has imposed martial law. Since Palestinians cannot leave their homes to work, their food sources are basically cut off, and they cannot make a living by going out for three to five hours a day.

In order to better work, I left the reporter's car, went to the soldier I had just met named Amir, and asked to use his military jeep.Amir was very happy and readily let me squeeze into the jeep to patrol with them.Inside the jeep was a military radio that was so dilapidated that the brand name could not be discerned, and it chattered wildly.With his purple beret tucked under his left epaulet, Amir grips his Ghalil rifle across his knee in his right hand and guards the convoy with a microphone in his left.At my feet lay a rifle with a grenade launcher and several cans of Pepsi.Jeep windshields and roofs are fenced with barbed wire to keep stones from "terrorists".It can be imagined that when the terrorists' stones rained down, Amir seemed to be sitting in a drum beating like a mountain.I chatted with Amir about Ariel Sharon, the former defense minister who founded Israel's Commando 202, and he asked me if I hated Sharon, and I said I hated his brutality, but liked his character: honest, brave, fanatical love With his own country, and his military genius of risky chess.The Israeli government stipulates that high school graduates over the age of 18 must serve in the military, 4 years for men and 3 years for women.Otherwise, good jobs such as lawyers, doctors, and engineers cannot be found.Amir was very satisfied with his military life, and he asked me to take more photos for his mother in Jerusalem.

In Elbelig, I personally saw a man in black with his arms cut upside down being beaten and kicked by Israeli soldiers into a hut.The atmosphere here is more tense.The streets were full of Israeli soldiers with M-16 rifles, big sticks, and wireless communication devices on their backs.In addition to the steel helmets on their heads, these soldiers also wore "Kevola-style" bulletproof vests. They stood back to back and circled around the reporter, watching their surroundings fiercely.There are messy stones and bullet casings all over the ground under our feet. It can be imagined that a fierce battle has just taken place here.There is no trace of pedestrians on the street.

While everyone was looking around, suddenly a few stones flew from behind, and we all scattered to hide.A fist-sized stone hit the right back of "Tokyo Shimbun" reporter Matsukawa Takashi, causing him to let out a strange cry of "嗤".Four Israeli soldiers rushed towards the bushes where the stones flew out, followed by me and the Canadian reporter Joe.After climbing over a low wall, there is a large quiet orange grove in front of you.An Israeli soldier pointed a gun at me and yelled at me, ordering me to retreat to the protective circle in the small town. He didn’t move when he saw me, and took off his steel helmet and threw it to me.The Israeli army did not dare to enter the orange grove rashly. Under the protection of soldiers, Joe and I retreated to the center of the small town of Elberg.The jeeps of the Israeli army surrounded us to form a vehicle wall, with their heads facing outwards, and were on high alert.

Suddenly, a small door not far from me was slammed open, and a middle-aged Arab with beards held a live mouse aloft, rushed to the street, and shouted in English as he ran: "Our life is not as good as it is!" Rats, rats can still go to the streets.” Seeing this, the reporters swarmed up, but were driven back by the Israeli army.I climbed onto the roof of a bombed-out jeep and clicked twice with the 80-200 lens. Three Israeli soldiers held down the furious Palestinian and pushed him back to the courtyard gate, but he was still stomping in the house. Shouting: "We are not as good as mice." I nervously rewound the film and hid it under the seat of the car, for fear of being confiscated by the Israeli army.But the Israeli army didn't bother us, but ordered us to get back to the car immediately.I was like a death row prisoner who was suddenly released privately by the executioner on the execution ground. While running towards freedom, I was anxiously waiting for a fatal shot in the back, but the gun didn't go off because the interview was over.