Gaza 'Unbearable'

The suffering in Gaza remains widespread despite the easing of the Israeli blockade in 2010, say U.N. and church officials. The Rev. George Hernández, pastor of Gaza’s Holy Family Church, said, “The need of the people and the humiliations that they must endure daily are unbearable.” Father Hernández said Gaza residents have been “repeatedly subjected to low-level flyovers and even bombardments by the Israeli Air Force.” Israeli aerial attacks began after the Popular Resistance Committee in Gaza attacked a bus carrying Israeli soldiers on Aug. 18, killing 14. Sister Davida, whose order, the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, runs a school in Gaza, said that children were still reeling from the 2008-9 Gaza war. She said: “During the war, several girls died of heart failure. Even today, many children react to aircraft noise with fear and panic.”