BETHLEHEM NOW.

Friday, April 5, 2002. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reoccupied Bethlehem in the early morning hours of April 2. A gun battle in the center of town ended with some three hundred persons taking refuge in the Church of the Nativity. Among them are young Palestinian fighters, some of them wounded. For thirty-six hours, the many wounded and dead were left in the streets and homes before permission was given to the Red Cross to evacuate them. The whole area was put under curfew. Nothing can circulate, not even ambulances.

Because I live in the area of the battles, I was confined at home and unable to reach Holy Family Hospital. I stayed in contact with Sister Sophie, the matron, by phone. Many patients in labor telephone to ask us to bring them to the hospital. We are unable to do so. A family member of one patient telephoned later to tell us that she delivered but that the baby had died.

The homes of the people living under curfew are checked and rechecked by the soldiers, and property is sometimes destroyed. My home was checked on two consecutive days by a dozen soldiers each time. I owe it to my French passport that the house was checked in a somewhat correct manner. My private medical practice around Manger Square was forced open by IDF soldiers. They destroyed and looted it; even doors and windows were taken out of their bolts.

Thanks to the emergency plan we had in place, all necessary staff, including on-call consultant doctors and maintenance staff, stay overnight in the hospital and we have enough supplies for a long period of time. The staff on duty Monday evening, April 1, stayed on duty until Friday afternoon: we were unable to get fresh staff from their homes. Few patients manage to arrive and this eases the situation of the staff.

This afternoon, the IDF gave us two hours of freedom. I went to the hospital and we managed to replace the staff on duty and to release the discharged patients. During that time, eight patients managed to arrive and were admitted. Tonight, the Church of the Nativity is still under siege. Up till now the hospital was spared and everybody in it is safe.

Thursday April 11. This is the ninth day of the reoccupation of Bethlehem by the IDF. The curfew was lifted a second time on April 8, supposedly for three hours but it was cut short an hour by the soldiers who started shooting at people trying to shop for essentials.

I went to the hospital to replace the employees on duty since Friday and to look after the many needs that have risen since my last visit. During the very short period of liberty, several patients came to the hospital. Some were in labor or had scheduled cesarean sections; others wanted to admit themselves because they were nearing the term of their pregnancy. The hospital's oxygen supply is getting dangerously low, especially since we have five premature babies on artificial ventilation.

Many people cannot shop for food because of the economic situation or, in a few cases, because banks are closed. Shopkeepers started opening credit for some families, and foreign charitable organizations are trying to distribute food bags, especially to the people who live around Manger Square. The curfew is total and the house-to-house searches continue. (Yesterday, my house was searched for the third time.) The newly renovated historical part of Bethlehem lies in ruins. The Israeli tanks, personnel carriers, and bulldozers destroy civil and personal property. There are many reports of theft during office and house searches.

The siege of the church continues. Some of the wounded fighters have been without medical care for nine days. Monday, April 15. Thanks to our emergency plan, the hospital is functioning correctly. Last Friday, the curfew was lifted on Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, and Beit Jala separately, which impeded a change of staff. For some urgent situations, we have asked for a case-by-case permit from the Israeli Civil Administration to transport staff in the hospital's van. The Red Cross brought our supply of oxygen and gave us a few hundred bottles of mineral water. Patients continue to arrive by UN ambulances, three or four a day. When the curfew is lifted, we admit and discharge patients in the three hours that are granted. The situation in town is the same. The IDF is blowing up cars parked in the streets; the resulting fires cause great damage to the surrounding buildings, electricity poles, and telephone lines. The street where I live has suffered a similar fate on Friday. We are without telephone at home since then. The siege of the church continues.

Monday, April 22. This is the twenty-first day of the curfew. Yesterday was our third Sunday without Mass.

On Wednesday April 17, Mrs. Jiewi, pregnant with twins, suffered premature labor after being frightened by bullets shot into her home. The ambulance service needed two hours to get the permission from the Israeli forces to bring her to the hospital. One baby died; the other is on a respirator in the intensive care unit.

The siege of the Church of the Nativity continues. Last Monday evening, the Israeli forces opened fire with heavy machineguns directly at the church compound igniting a fire in the Greek Orthodox section of the church. It is very painful for the Christians of Bethlehem and indeed for all the inhabitants to see this atrocity being perpetrated against their beloved church.

Robert Tabash, M.D., is administrator of Bethlehem's Holy Family Hospital, operated by the Order of Malta.