Chapter 26: The Residence is Attacked

  Regardless of the international reputation I have gained in Western powers and Israel, I have actually undergone a great change in the Gaza Strip. The simplest example is that my appearance as an Asian person on the main road will attract more attention, some local people who can recognize me will show respect to me, holding the Quran to salute me, this situation first appeared in the refugee camp where I was.

  I didn't pay much attention to what it meant, living life as usual, until one day Mahmoud, who hadn't been seen for a few days, came to discuss the 6th transportation of goods with Hassan. When he saw me enter the reception hall where they were sitting, Mahmoud suddenly stood up and bowed respectfully towards me. This change made me extremely uncomfortable, feeling strange and uneasy. Has someone I've been in contact with for so long really become demonized?

  After finalizing the transportation list of these weapons and supplies, as well as the living supplies list, Mahmoud bowed to me once again, backing out the door respectfully before going downstairs to drive away.

  "Am I being demonized? What have I done, and what are they broadcasting on TV and radio? I heard that Shu Kui said that I am now known to the outside world as Hamas's No. 4 leader, the new generation spiritual leader of Palestine? Why don't you Muslims try hanging me to see if I can come back to life to prove your sacred method?"

  My words made Hassan laugh so hard that he was almost rolling on the ground, holding his stomach in laughter. It took him a while to calm down, and when he saw my sulky face, he patiently put down the ceramic cup in his hand and pulled me back to sit on the sofa in the middle of the room. Just as I was about to speak, he stopped me and started making tea on the red wooden tea tray, fiddling with the tea set that Fugui had given me.

  It didn't take long to make the first cup of tea, but unfortunately, it was poured directly onto the tea pet. I'm a bit heartbroken about this little toad-like tea pet. Day after day, it's been scalded by boiling water. Fortunately, it's made of purple sand and isn't afraid of being burned.

  As I took the cup of tea handed to me by Hassan, looking at the bright yellow tea soup and the white transparent small teacup, I suddenly felt a deep sense of inferiority. A Chinese person drinking Chinese tea is not as particular as an old foreigner.

  "Brother, you're being killed by your own success. It's also because your team culture explanation was too good. This set of things, just change some keywords and it can be directly used to promote holy war, promote the spiritual core that Hamas wants to promote. What's broadcast on TV and radio is all edited, turning your team culture into a declaration of holy war. Now, in the Western world, or rather, even before affecting the Western world, just Israel alone already has plans to take you down."

  "Isn't the Cast Lead operation still a month away? It's only the end of June now?" I was puzzled at the time, "Besides, I don't have any actual power in Hamas or Gaza, so how did I become a target for Israel to strike?"

  "What is Operation Cast Lead, brother?"

  "Oh no, Hassan, let's go quickly! I just received a thin thread that the Israeli air force is dispatching bombers to bomb a civilian residence, and this is the target. Run!" Before Hassan could even grab my arm, a flurry of urgent footsteps and shrill cries erupted from the stairs outside the door.

  As soon as he said that, I didn't have any other thoughts in my mind. I hastily put on a coat, inserted the pistol from the tea table into its holster, and buckled up the dagger. Then, I went to lift the tea tray that Jiao Ge had sent me. I also instructed Hassan to find a bag to pack all the teacups and teapots. At this time, Su Cui led several mercenaries wearing US military desert combat uniforms and holding HK416s, who were already on the second floor. They looked at the situation in the room through the half-open door and immediately gave urgent orders to take us away. When they saw me hugging the tea tray tightly, they wanted the mercenaries to take it over, but I refused and had to hold it myself.

  Afraid that time was running out, we didn't even leave the door, and directly jumped down from the window of the second-floor living room. Below was a container truck's cargo box, with a distance of only about 1.5 meters from the windowsill to the top of the cargo box. Two fully armed mercenaries, Hassan and another, followed closely behind, protecting me as I went first, while they brought up the rear. I stepped onto the windowsill in one stride, then crouched down and rushed out through the window, jumping onto the top of the container truck. After stabilizing my footing, I quickly took two steps forward to make room for Hassan.

  As soon as Shui Cui and the two mercenaries had all climbed onto the roof of the car, the rear door of the cargo compartment, which was still loading things, was closed by a mercenary on the ground. The car started up, and under the escort of a group of mercenaries walking on the ground, we stood on the roof and followed the evacuated residents to leave the house where I had lived for the longest time since arriving in the Gaza Strip. As we reached the end of this street, I looked back and saw that the house was engulfed in flames by a fireball that flew in from the distant sky...

  In a room of a multi-storey hotel apartment in Gaza City, Hassan and I sat together, the lights were not turned on, taking advantage of the night, only two cigarette butt-sized bright spots kept flashing, one bright and one dark, one bright and one dark...

  The door was suddenly opened from the outside, and then the corridor lights walked in with several figures, including two blond foreign men wearing outdoor clothes with their eyes covered and their hands tied behind their backs. "Pot, pot, they've brought him."

  I nodded with a cigarette in hand, indicating they could start setting up now.

  Hassan stood up and, like the other mercenaries, covered his face with a black scarf, then tied a ribbon with writing on it around his head. A few people pulled out a Palestinian flag and held it behind me as a backdrop. Mahmoud closed the door to the room, blocking the light from the hallway, and followed by Shukri and several mercenaries, brought in a table lamp and placed it on the small table where Hassan and I had just been smoking. A mercenary carrying a camera and microphone walked in, and two mercenaries came forward and dragged over the two American men whose hands were tied behind their backs.

  "My itinerary was provided by you to Israel, since you said you are reporters from the US News and World Report wanting to interview me, well, have a cup of hot cocoa, the interview can start right away." Two mercenaries untied their hands and removed their blindfolds.

  "Let's get started, my friends!" My voice came from behind the desk lamp and was transmitted to the ears of the two people who had just opened their eyes and were immediately closed again by the strong light.