Israeli Strikes Continue to Claim Civilian Lives in Designated ‘Safe Zones’
Rabat – The attack on Deir al-Balah has drawn significant attention and criticism, as the area had been declared a refuge by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). However, as reported by Al Jazeera, upon arrival at a designated shelter in the northern part of the city, the Hamdan family and three others fell victim to an Israeli airstrike.
The incident is part of a broader pattern of displacement, violence, and attacks on so-called safe zones that gripped Gaza as the devastating war enters its ninth month.
The United Nations reported that approximately 250,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the recent IOF orders to evacuate areas near the border with Egypt. The UN warned that 80% of Gaza’s population is now displaced.
On Wednesday morning, Al Jazeera reported an additional airstrikes targeted the al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza, killing three people in a civilian car and injuring 17 others.
Almost all patients in the European Hospital and the Red Cross field hospital in southern Gaza have fled following the evacuation orders. Now only three patients remain at the European Gaza Hospital and three at the ICRC field hospital. Most patients have been referred to Nasser Medical Complex, WHO said.
In light of the current situation, Palestinians are expressing growing distrust of Israeli evacuation orders given the occupation forces’ track record of targeting designated safe zones. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir al-Balah, described this pervasive fear and uncertainty among residents.
There’s no safe place across Gaza. What’s going on right now in Khan Younis is nothing short of enforced displacement, it’s been going on for months, Mahmoud said.
He added, The Israeli military is talking about sending people to safety or giving evacuation orders so people are protected, but this is not accurate on the ground. In fact, it has been misleading, contradictory and vague for the most part.
Mahmoud noted that there have been many cases of civilians fleeing to safe zones as the Israeli forces ordered them, and within hours of their arrival, they’ve been killed inside the area they were told to move to.
People are now hesitant, they end up in the streets because they don’t want to move inside residential buildings that are going to be bombed, he lamented.
