At Cairo Hospital, Injured Palestinians Increasingly Voice Support for Hamas

Ramadan Khalid arrives at Nasser hospital on Dec. 30 after Israeli missiles struck a mosque where he was praying. He went to Gaza's overwhelmed Shifa Hospital but was transferred. (By Amr Nabil -- Associated Press)

By Tuesday, the Palestinian death toll had reached 960, with more than 3,000 wounded, health officials in Gaza said. According to Israel's military, 13 Israelis -- three civilians and 10 soldiers -- have been killed since Israel began its offensive Dec. 27 in an effort to stop Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, from shooting rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilians.

There are 34 injured Palestinians at Nasser hospital, all men save for a woman and a 9-year-old girl suffering from head injuries, said Ayman al-Sabour, a physician. He said none of the wounded had been engaged in combat.

Saleh Abdul Latif, a pharmacist, was seated next to his brother, Sami, who was sleeping in the bed next to Khalid's. Latif described how he searched for his brother, inspecting bodies in the same morgue. Sami, also a policeman, was injured in an airstrike on his police station.

"It was a black night," Abdul Latif recalled. "I still can't sleep."

Israeli officials say the police stations, mosques and universities that have been targeted are used by Hamas to plan and stage attacks against Israel. But six wounded police officers interviewed here said they were not members of Hamas, although all supported it. "The police is not just Hamas," said Iyad Jabberm, 32, a policeman since 1994 who was also injured by an Israeli airstrike on his station.

"They think everything is related to Hamas. They think if they destroy the buildings, they will bring Hamas down," Abdul Latif said. "But Hamas is not a building, or a mosque, or a school, or a police station. Hamas is people. Each and every house has Hamas people."

Initially, Egyptian authorities would not let Palestinian ambulances cross into Egypt. After a day of negotiations, they were allowed in, Khalid said. Today, he worries about his wife and children. "They can't leave the house to buy food. There are too many bombings," he said.

Two Egyptian visitors entered. One tucked a thick envelope containing money under Khalid's blanket. The other gave a similar envelope to Abdul Latif. "May you return victorious," one said to Khalid.

"Day and night, you feel the people here really know what the Palestinians are going through," Abdul Latif said, opening the envelope to find a wad of Egyptian pounds. "They want to share our tragedy."

Moments later, Khalid began to cry. "We have no place for us in Gaza," he said. "Gaza has been destroyed."

"I did not support Hamas before," he added. "Now, I do. The whole world is conspiring against Hamas. And the number one conspirer is the United States."

Ready to Fight

A young Egyptian woman wearing an Islamic head scarf entered a room and placed a red rose on the chest of Ashraf Muhammed Herez, a Hamas loyalist.