I anxiously wait. In 90 minutes, the “cease-fire” should take effect. I can’t help but to sit here and wonder, if Israel will hold its weaponry and thirst for violence. According to friends and news reports there, the bombing, artillery and shelling has intensified. Israel will kill as many as they can while they still have time. At the same time, they claim they will “continue to work to destroy tunnels” within the so-called “cease-fire” period. It’s like a sick game. As though they were playing a game and “time-out” doesn’t count.

I can’t wait to call my family and tell them about the “time-out” which will of course mean nothing but lessened attacks–NOT a complete HAULT. Yes, they continued to bomb during the past humanitarian cease-fire. I wonder what they will do with their time? Stock up on food, get clean water, get medical attention. They don’t want me to worry, but I do. They are braver than I am. It is still a dangerous time to venture out. I remember them telling me that they were going home to the Shujaiya, during the first cease-fire, after it was flattened to the ground and many massacred. They quickly changed their minds because the ones who dared to check on their homes were being shot or targeted by shelling.

We cannot simply resign to the “cease-fire” by assuming it’s over. We need to keep the pressure on to change their lives, long term. We need to change the foreign policies and the support of the militarization of Israel. The siege that was started in 2007 has caused mass suffering and a suffocating strangle on daily life for Palestinians in Gaza. There have been many killed or shot at on the borders, during farming on the agricultural lands near Israel’s border. Or at sea, where fisherman simply want to use the sea to feed the population. (sigh)

Time will tell, I can’t wait to call them, to make sure they got through the night…first.