In the thick of it

The phone goes off at about 8pm last night, and I pick it up, and it's the father-in-law, direct from Gaza, where he's been part of an international medical aid program operating on palestinian children with heart conditions (the sort of minor things that get operated on in a jiffy in western countries, but more often than not lead to premature death in countries where they don't have the necessary surgical skill). Anyway, I pass him on to the wife, and she gets the full story...

Apparently, just as he was finishing his shift for the day at the hospital, he headed out to go home. An apache helicopter swooped overhead, and he saw rockets being launched at a target just a few blocks away. He figured he'd stay put, as there were bound to be casualties coming there way, and there were -- and not just any casualties, none other than Hamas political chief Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi. The Hamas honcho turned up with a few, not so serious wounds, but his son had suffered more life-threatening injuries, and was put in the care of my father-in-law. Turns out al-Rantissi is a pediatrician, so the two of them struck it off, and now, it transpires, the father-in-law has been made an 'honorary' Hamas member. Crikey, what an honour. As me and the wife were talking about later, what place could possibly be more dangerous than by the side of a Hamas political figure that the Israelis are publically trying to assassinate (and have already killed two innocent bystanders, and wounded a score more in their attempts). Needless to say, the return of the father-in-law from the warring region is greatly anticipated.
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