Where should we go? – Gaza is nowhere near safe as Israeli attacks escalating
Where are we going? Is this neighborhood, which was so serene and lovely, still a safe place to be? Residents of an apartment building in Rimal questioned me in a sarcastic tone.
As Israeli airplanes launched yet another round of airstrikes in reprisal for the Palestinian militant group’s historic attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, I had just experienced the most trying seven hours of my life there.
Numerous residential structures, telecom company offices, and academic facilities of the Islamic University of Gaza were all severely damaged by Israeli airstrikes.
All through Monday night, the neighborhood was rocked by terrifying explosions. Nobody was able to sleep a wink due to the children’s screams.
The residents of Rimal, the wealthiest and typically most peaceful neighborhood in Gaza City, will never forget that night for a very long time.
Tuesday’s first light brought a reduction in the strikes’ intensity and the realization of the scale of the damage. The infrastructure of the south-western neighborhood was seriously compromised, and the majority of the routes leading there were blocked.
It felt like there had been an earthquake as I was driving about. Everywhere you looked, there was debris, broken glass, and damaged wiring. Some of the buildings I passed had been destroyed to such an extent that I did not recognize them.
“I was devastated. My five children resided in my flat in this building. Mohammed Abu al-Kass told me while walking his daughter Shahd down the street that his grocery store down below the structure had been demolished.
Where are we going? We’ve lost our homes. We no longer have access to employment or housing.
He continued, accusing the Israeli military of lying when it claims that it does not target civilians: “Are my house and my grocery store a military target, Israel.”
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Monday’s Israeli attacks on Gaza claimed the lives of nearly 300 individuals, two-thirds of whom were civilians. There, it was the deadliest day in a long time.
In the afternoon, at least 15 people were murdered in the heavily populated Jabalia refugee camp, which is northeast of Gaza City. The residence of a Hamas commander was the target, according to the Israeli military. However, numerous persons in adjacent homes or at a market were slain.
A worsening humanitarian crisis
The health ministry reports that 900 people have died altogether in Gaza since Saturday, including 260 children. 4,500 more people have sustained injuries.
Additionally, the already severe humanitarian catastrophe in this small, crowded region gets worse.
After Israel’s government imposed a “complete siege” and cut off all of Gaza’s supplies in retaliation to Hamas’s onslaught, its 2.2 million inhabitants are running out of food, fuel, electricity, and water.
On the Israeli side, the unplanned attack on Saturday has resulted in 1,000 deaths, and the militants have kidnapped between 100 and 150 hostages into Gaza.
“Can you envision a world in which there is no water or electricity in the twenty-first century? Waad al-Mughrabi in Rimal remarked, “My baby has run out of diapers and there is only half a bottle of milk left,” as she stared at the demolished structure next to her home.
“Was it my child who attacked Israel?”
Dozens of people were lined up in front of a little back door outside Gaza’s biggest supermarket, which had just opened after being closed since Saturday. They hoped to get any supplies they could because they believed the conflict would go on for a very long time.
The majority of Gaza’s fresh produce is cultivated in the southern part of the territory, making it increasingly challenging to transport it to the northern part of the country due to the severe fuel shortage.
Food and other vital supplies have not yet arrived from Egypt, which along with Israel has maintained a strict embargo of Gaza ever since Hamas seized control of the region in 2007 for security reasons.
Additionally, it has been impossible for people to leave Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing. Normally, just 400 people per day are permitted to enter or leave, but Israeli airstrikes on Monday and Tuesday hit a gate on the Palestinian side, suspending all crossings, according to the Palestinian interior ministry in Gaza.
Because of this, the majority of the 200,000 people who had to flee their houses had to seek refuge in UN-run schools. While others witnessed their homes being obliterated by air attacks, some fled in panic.
Some Gazans opt to take refuge in basements, although doing so puts them at risk of becoming trapped if the structure above collapses. On Monday night, a single basement alone held about 30 families hostage.
Mohammed al-Mughrabi, a native of Rimal, said that during earlier battles, this portion of the city served as a refuge for people from bordering communities [with Israel].
Israel’s attacks on Monday evening proved that no place is safe nowadays.