On arrival in Hamra I heard that the Israeli army had begun to invade West-Beirut from the south. I slept a few hours and was awakened by explosion and gunfire. On the roof of Mayfair Residence I saw big plumes of smoke and explosions in the south. The same could be seen in the eastern direction around the Holiday Inn area. Out at sea - it was now dusk - I could see the Israeli navy's landing craft moving towards the port area.
The car that was to bring us back to work in Akka-hospital for another nightshift did not come. We waited the next morning, Thursday the 16th of September, but there was no transport. In stead fighting broke out in the northern part of West-Beirut and we were forced to seek shelter. Our residence was hit by shell fire. Towards the evening the fighting died down, but it was still not possible to get transport to Akka-hospital. We were in stead asked to go and work in the nearby hospital of the American University of Beirut (AUH), which was overwhelmed with people with injuries.
On Friday morning the 17th of September, the Israelis were in full control in the northern part of West-Beirut. We walked to work in AUH and were confronted by the Israeli military in the streets. After a shift in AUH I attended an MECC-meeting at 3 p.m.. We heard that the situation in Gaza-hospital, where team members were working, was desperate and that more staff was urgently needed. Now that the fighting had died down it became possible to get transport. Five of us (Egon, Joost, Louise, Lisa and me) volunteered to go and at about 5 p.m. we set off for Gaza-hospital.
The car that was to bring us back to work in Akka-hospital for another nightshift did not come. We waited the next morning, Thursday the 16th of September, but there was no transport. In stead fighting broke out in the northern part of West-Beirut and we were forced to seek shelter. Our residence was hit by shell fire. Towards the evening the fighting died down, but it was still not possible to get transport to Akka-hospital. We were in stead asked to go and work in the nearby hospital of the American University of Beirut (AUH), which was overwhelmed with people with injuries.
On Friday morning the 17th of September, the Israelis were in full control in the northern part of West-Beirut. We walked to work in AUH and were confronted by the Israeli military in the streets. After a shift in AUH I attended an MECC-meeting at 3 p.m.. We heard that the situation in Gaza-hospital, where team members were working, was desperate and that more staff was urgently needed. Now that the fighting had died down it became possible to get transport. Five of us (Egon, Joost, Louise, Lisa and me) volunteered to go and at about 5 p.m. we set off for Gaza-hospital.