In besieged northern Gaza Strip “death waits on every street corner”

Members scattered in the streets, shelters burned, hundreds of people trapped in hospitals: Palestinians describe the apocalyptic scenes of the latest Israeli campaign.

For more than two weeks, the Israeli army has been waging one of the most brutal and destructive campaigns of the war in northern Gaza. The residents of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun are experiencing a relentless siege that has deprived them of food, water and any illusion of security. Survivors describe a nightmare beyond comprehension: airstrikes and bombardments so incessant that their bodies never stop shaking.
The Israeli military operation, which began in the early hours of October 6, has killed at least 640 Palestinians to date. Many residents of besieged areas described apocalyptic scenes of corpses littering the streets, with medical teams unable to recover them due to incessant bombardment.

In recent days, the Israeli army has released videos showing soldiers rounding up Palestinians sheltering in displacement camps and forcing them to head south toward Gaza City. . The United Nations Office for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated that 20,000 people were forcibly displaced from Jabalia on October 18 alone. Images posted on social media by Israeli soldiers also suggest that the army set fire to shelters to prevent Palestinians from returning.

Today, videos were released showing dozens of Palestinian men in Jabalia, led by the Israeli army at gunpoint, blindfolded and handcuffed; they have likely since been taken to detention centers in Israel, where former detainees and whistleblowers have reported systemic abuse and torture.

The assault on northern Gaza has severely limited the functioning of hospitals in the besieged areas. Doctor Mohammed Salha, director of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, told +972 magazine that the situation at the facility was “catastrophic”. Around 180 people – medical staff, patients and displaced families – are trapped inside the hospital, with the Israeli army shelling the surrounding area. We are just waiting for death to come,” he said, “or a miracle.”

“We have nothing left to treat the injured and the patients,” Mr. Salha said. “Even basic necessities like water and medicine are in short supply, and the hospital’s generator is running on its last drops of fuel. If the generator stops, people who rely on the fans will lose their lives.”

Doctor Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the nearby Beit Lahiya Indonesian Hospital, describes a similarly dire scene. “Israeli tanks are surrounding the hospital from all sides and several vehicles are parked at its gates,” he said. On October 19, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that Israeli forces had shelled the upper floors of the hospital, despite the presence of more than 40 patients and members of medical staff.
Two days later, troops set fire to a nearby school, starting a fire that reached the hospital’s generators and knocked out all power, rendering the hospital largely non-operational.

Although the Israeli army demanded the hospital be evacuated, Mr. Al-Sultan said he and his colleagues refused to leave. “There are 45 people trapped inside the hospital: 15 staff members and 30 patients,” he explains. “One patient died due to the power outage and lack of medical supplies. The electricity has been completely cut off and the occupying forces are refusing to run the generators. This endangers the lives of patients, especially the most vulnerable. »

All that’s left is the will to breathe

Nabil Al-Khatib, 57, and his family were sheltering in an UNRWA school in Beit Lahiya when Israel began bombing the area on October 6. “We thought we were safe in the school,” he explains. But suddenly they came under intense fire. Shrapnel flew around them, lightly injuring eight of Al-Khatib’s children and grandchildren.
“We thought we wouldn’t survive,” Mr. Al-Khatib said, his voice cracking. “The air was heavy with smoke. My youngest was so scared that she didn’t want to let go of me. I hugged her, telling her it would be over soon, although I wasn’t sure it was true. It was the longest night of our lives.”

The morning brought no peace, only a brief lull in the bombing. The family took advantage of a 15-minute break in the bombardment to escape. “We took the children, grabbed everything we could and fled,” Mr. Al-Khatib said. “We left everything behind: our medications, our life as we knew it. But we were there for each other. That’s all that mattered. » The escape route was closed shortly after, leaving many people trapped.

The family managed to find shelter in a small classroom at the Abu Zaitoun school, near the Al-Shati refugee camp, just south of Jabalia. “We are in Gaza City now, but there is no relief,” Mr. Al-Khatib said. “I see people who have already lost everything: their homes, their families, their members. All they have left is the will to breathe, to stay alive until the next explosion.”

Bilal Salem, a photojournalist who documents the rapidly deteriorating situation in northern Gaza, told +972 that every minute feels like his last. “You hear a drone, or the whistle of a missile, and then everything turns to dust,” he said. “We move through the ruins like ghosts, trying to capture what’s left of people’s lives, but the truth is, there’s not much left. »

His voice cracks when he talks about children: the way they cling to their parents, desperately seeking protection that their parents cannot provide. » I have covered Gaza all my life, but this is not a war. It’s genocide. It’s like death is waiting around every corner.”

Salem also spoke about the personal weight of his work: “It’s difficult to continue working when you see such destruction,” he explained. “I see bodies crushed under the rubble, children missing limbs, people bleeding to death in the street because there is no one to help them. It’s like living in hell, and it’s getting worse every day.”

Despite the daily risks that weigh on his life, Salem continues to do his job. “Journalists are targets,” he declares bluntly. “We are considered enemies because we show the world what is really happening. I’ve lost count of the number of friends I’ve lost doing this work, and every time I go out, I wonder if I’ll come back. »

Today, the Israeli military claimed that six Al Jazeera journalists covering the current assault on northern Gaza are agents of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The Committee to Protect Journalists noted that “Israel has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without providing credible evidence,” and the move has raised fears that the military may seek to target these journalists in order to further suppress coverage of the military campaign.

Nobody did anything to save them

Neveen Al-Dawasa, a nurse, was trapped in the northern Gaza Strip for 16 days while sheltering at the Al-Fawqa school in Jabalia. “We had nothing – no food, no water,” she told +972. “People would break into the warehouses to survive, and when they did, the Israeli army would bomb the doors. She even bombarded the well with water while the children filled jugs. There is no more humanity. »

On October 21, Israel bombed the school. “It was hell,” Al-Dawasa said bluntly, his voice betraying deep anger. “They gave us an hour to evacuate, but they bombed us before the deadline. They didn’t care.
“I saw the bodies myself,” she continues. “I remember seeing around thirty injured and around ten dead. We called ambulances, but they couldn’t reach us.

After the bombing, the Israeli army used drones and tanks to force survivors to flee under death threats. They told us there was “safe passage,” but when we tried to leave, they shouted at us from their tanks: “Go back, or we will shoot you!” “. Al-Dawasa’s voice weakened. “They treated us like animals. Even worse. » Al-Dawasa finally managed to escape from the Jabalia camp on October 22 and took refuge in Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

Mosab Abu Toha, a Palestinian poet from Jabalia currently living in exile, took to social media to try to draw the world’s attention to what is happening to people trapped in the northern Gaza Strip, including his own family. “My aunt’s house and her husband’s family are now besieged inside by tanks and soldiers,” he wrote on October 17. “Israeli soldiers are shooting on the ground floor. She has five children and there are more than 30 people in the building, mostly children. »

The next day, he posted an update: “It is with a heavy heart that I write that my cousin Sama, aged 7, was killed in the bombing of their house along with 18 members of her family, who is my extended family.” He added: “I posted about this yesterday, before the house was bombed. I told everyone that tanks and soldiers were besieging the area. But no one heard. No one did anything to save them.”

In a statement, the IDF spokesperson said the army was “allowing civilians to evacuate for their safety in complete safety and through organized channels” and that it was “in constant contact with the international community and the health system in order to maintain the operation of hospital emergency systems through the transfer of medical equipment and the provision of fuel”. +972 contacted the military for comment on the specific incidents mentioned in this article, but it did not respond at the time of publication of this article.

Translation: JB for the
Source: +972