NefeshBarYochai
2024-02-09 20:49:07 UTC
By Ruwaida Kamal Amer and Ibtisam Mahdi
February 6, 2024
For several weeks, the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
has witnessed intense Israeli bombardment by ground and air, as well
as fierce clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters. Israeli
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced last week that the army had
successfully dismantled Hamas capabilities in the city a claim
Israel made earlier about Gaza City in the north, only to be proven
wrong. But in Khan Younis, as in the rest of Gaza, it is we civilians
who are bearing the brunt of the violence.
Israeli tanks have besieged two of the most important hospitals still
partially functioning in southern Gaza: Nasser and Al-Amal. Both are
located in the western part of Khan Younis, and have been overwhelmed
since the war began not only with the influx of patients but also with
families seeking shelter after having been displaced from the northern
parts of the Strip. Israeli forces opened fire at the more than 8,000
displaced people sheltering in the vicinity of Nasser Hospital, and
bulldozed graves in the adjacent cemetery one of at least 16
cemeteries that Israel has desecrated during its operation in Gaza.
Israeli tanks also penetrated the vicinity of Al-Aqsa University at
the western edge of the city, near the previously designated safe
zone of Al-Mawasi; targeted the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
Training Center, one of the largest shelters in all of Gaza which had
been accommodating up to 40,000 displaced people; and completely
surrounded the western part of Khan Younis refugee camp.
The Israeli army dropped leaflets ordering residents to evacuate Khan
Younis, and in recent days some 120,000 Palestinians have fled the
city through a supposedly safe corridor spanning from the west of
the refugee camp to the area of Al-Mawasi near Al-Aqsa University. The
passage through this corridor, however, which is made up of three
Israeli military checkpoints, has for many Palestinians been one of
the most harrowing ordeals since the war began.
According to testimonies from Palestinians who have made the journey,
including one of the authors, those passing through the corridor were
forced to chant slogans against Hamas; many had their belongings
confiscated; and men were separated from their families, stripped, and
subjected to hours of physical abuse and deprivation. All the while,
thousands remain trapped inside Khan Younis, unable to leave their
shelters out of fear of being shot on the streets.
<continue reading>
https://www.972mag.com/khan-younis-safe-corridor-abuse/
February 6, 2024
For several weeks, the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip
has witnessed intense Israeli bombardment by ground and air, as well
as fierce clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters. Israeli
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced last week that the army had
successfully dismantled Hamas capabilities in the city a claim
Israel made earlier about Gaza City in the north, only to be proven
wrong. But in Khan Younis, as in the rest of Gaza, it is we civilians
who are bearing the brunt of the violence.
Israeli tanks have besieged two of the most important hospitals still
partially functioning in southern Gaza: Nasser and Al-Amal. Both are
located in the western part of Khan Younis, and have been overwhelmed
since the war began not only with the influx of patients but also with
families seeking shelter after having been displaced from the northern
parts of the Strip. Israeli forces opened fire at the more than 8,000
displaced people sheltering in the vicinity of Nasser Hospital, and
bulldozed graves in the adjacent cemetery one of at least 16
cemeteries that Israel has desecrated during its operation in Gaza.
Israeli tanks also penetrated the vicinity of Al-Aqsa University at
the western edge of the city, near the previously designated safe
zone of Al-Mawasi; targeted the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
Training Center, one of the largest shelters in all of Gaza which had
been accommodating up to 40,000 displaced people; and completely
surrounded the western part of Khan Younis refugee camp.
The Israeli army dropped leaflets ordering residents to evacuate Khan
Younis, and in recent days some 120,000 Palestinians have fled the
city through a supposedly safe corridor spanning from the west of
the refugee camp to the area of Al-Mawasi near Al-Aqsa University. The
passage through this corridor, however, which is made up of three
Israeli military checkpoints, has for many Palestinians been one of
the most harrowing ordeals since the war began.
According to testimonies from Palestinians who have made the journey,
including one of the authors, those passing through the corridor were
forced to chant slogans against Hamas; many had their belongings
confiscated; and men were separated from their families, stripped, and
subjected to hours of physical abuse and deprivation. All the while,
thousands remain trapped inside Khan Younis, unable to leave their
shelters out of fear of being shot on the streets.
<continue reading>
https://www.972mag.com/khan-younis-safe-corridor-abuse/