DaysofPal- An Israeli missile strike destroyed dozens of displacement tents to ashes in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis early Wednesday, leaving around 200 Palestinian families homeless once again, according to local residents.
The attack targeted a site known locally as “Ard al-Basal” (Onion Land), where hundreds of displaced civilians had been sheltering.
Within minutes, the area was transformed from a crowded encampment into charred remains and piles of debris, with blackened tent frames standing amid the sand.
Clothing, blankets, cooking utensils, and children’s toys were scattered across the ground, while the smell of burning plastic and wood lingered in the air.
Residents, including men, women, and children, sifted through the rubble with their bare hands in search of identification documents, money, or any belongings that might have survived the blaze, but most found only ashes.
Witnesses said evacuation orders were issued shortly before the strike, giving families roughly 15 minutes to leave.
Minutes later, a powerful explosion ignited dozens of tents, with flames quickly spreading to adjacent shelters and destroying an entire row of makeshift homes.
Hani Hassan Abu Khater, a displaced resident, said about 15 families from his extended relatives were living at the site, along with dozens of others.
“We left in a hurry, and within minutes everything was gone,” he told local media.
“Even the water barrels and temporary bathrooms were destroyed.” He added.
Abu Khater described returning to the site at dawn as deeply shocking.
“There was nothing left—only burnt tents and scattered belongings,” he said.
He added that he had spent more than 1,500 shekels the day before, reinforcing his tent and buying new supplies, all of which were destroyed within less than 24 hours.
He also lost his savings and his wife’s jewelry, which he could not recover.
Despite the devastation, Abu Khater said he has no choice but to erect another tent. “What hurts most is that our suffering is seen on screens, but nothing changes,” he added.
Nearby, 64-year-old Nawal Abu Khater sat among the ruins of her tent, which she had been forced to flee just hours earlier.
She managed to save only her identification papers, while all her other belongings were consumed by the fire.
“I found nothing left, what do they want from us? What do we have left?” Her ordeal is compounded by the loss of two of her sons earlier in the war, leaving her to face yet another displacement,” she said.
Mohammad al-Maghari, 20, said his family fled immediately after receiving evacuation orders, with only minutes to escape.
When they returned, they found everything destroyed.
“The fire consumed the tents, the trees, the bedding, the clothes, everything,” he said, adding that his family spent the night without shelter or blankets.
Across the site, similar scenes unfolded: children searching for toys, parents looking for documents and savings, and mothers gathering whatever remained of their burned belongings.
With each tent reduced to ashes, another cycle of displacement begins for families already exhausted by war, leaving many to ask the same question once again: where will they find shelter next?
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