GAZA, (PIC)
This is not the first time the Israeli occupation army has committed horrific massacres against civilians displaced to central and southern Gaza. These crimes expose the falsehood of so-called humanitarian zones.
The Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis and Rafah, is one such zone, crowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing the flames of the Israeli war. The occupation army claimed these areas were safe, but this term is a mere illusion as the region has been repeatedly bombarded by Israeli forces.
In February, the Israeli occupation army attacked Al-Mawasi, including the “safe” home of Doctors Without Borders staff and their families, resulting in the martyrdom of several civilians and the injury of six others, including women and children.
On May 26, 45 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 others suffered severe burns and amputations in an Israeli bombing of a displacement camp northwest of Rafah, near the warehouses of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). This attack occurred just days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop the genocide in Rafah.
On June 21, Israeli forces attacked Al-Mawasi again, resulting in the killing of at least 25 Palestinians and the injury of 50 others.
On June 27, 13 Palestinians were killed and 40 others were injured in another Israeli attack on the Shakoush area and regional parks west of Rafah, which are filled with displaced people, tents, huts, and temporary shelters. This attack forced at least 5,000 people to relocate again to central Gaza, according to data published by the United Nations.
Each time the Israeli army attacked Al-Mawasi and displacement camps, it attempted to justify its crime and divert attention by claiming the presence of senior Palestinian resistance figures in the area. In most cases, these claims were proven false, while international human rights organizations affirm that the presence of resistance elements in such places does not justify targeting them.
Eradicating Palestinian presence
Ghada Aqeel, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta in Canada, says that the ongoing attacks on Al-Mawasi and other so-called “safe zones” demonstrate that Israel’s intention is not just to eliminate Hamas but to eradicate the Palestinian presence entirely.
In an article published on Al Jazeera Net, Aqeel adds that the systematic and continuous attacks on these “safe zones” have no military justification and aim only to kill and terrorize as many civilians as possible.
She emphasizes that after ten months of war, it has become clear that this aggression is not only against Hamas but is a comprehensive war on the Palestinian presence.
She continues, “Palestinians in Gaza are not only dying from Israeli bombs but also from the feeling of oppression. When they witness the ongoing genocide hour after hour, without being able to stop it, it is an unbearable feeling. It is harsh to hear the screams of the wounded dying in pain, to see children without limbs, and to know that you cannot help them. It is a cruel feeling when you realize that the world has watched the genocide for nine months without doing anything to stop it.”
Collusion and alliance
Ali Abu Razeq, a researcher in international relations, stated that the audacity of the criminal occupation army to bomb neighborhoods of tents and fabrics housing thousands of children and women lies not in Arab and Islamic silence, incapacity, or weakness but in collusion and alliances, both hidden and open, between Israel and its Palestinian and Arab allies.
In a post on the “X” platform, he described this alliance as “an alliance to neutralize the claws and suppress the people so that Israel can burn our children and women with firm and steady hands, not trembling ones.” He added, “Yes, our regimes and security apparatuses have contributed to strengthening the position of the Israeli pilot and stiffening his resolve so that he feels safe from punishment, no matter how much he oversteps the bounds of decency…!”
Al-Mawasi is a Palestinian coastal area in southwestern Gaza known for its agricultural lands and fresh groundwater. Israeli occupation policies have turned it from “the food basket of Gaza” into barren lands and a hub for displacement in the enclave.
Al-Mawasi is located on the Palestinian Mediterranean coast, stretching from the far north of Khan Yunis to the far south of Rafah.
