DaysofPal- At least 11 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in a predawn Israeli airstrike on makeshift tents housing displaced people in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza on Thursday.
This area had been declared a “safe zone” by Israeli occupation forces earlier in its ongoing offensive. Local medics reported the deaths, which included three children and two women.
The attack on al-Mawasi came as a devastating blow to families seeking refuge in what was designated as a humanitarian safe zone. Footage from the scene showed people frantically searching for survivors among burning tents, debris, and washing lines strung up by the displaced residents.
Days before the strike, Israeli tanks advanced on al-Mawasi from Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, forcing dozens of families to flee northward, fearing further violence. This latest assault is not the first to target the area. On December 3, an Israeli missile strike on al-Mawasi killed at least 20 people, an attack that Israeli military officials claimed was aimed at a Hamas official. Another strike on December 22 killed eight people, including two children.
Israeli attacks across Gaza have intensified in recent days. On New Year’s Day alone, at least 26 Palestinians were killed in multiple strikes, including four children and a woman. In Jabalia, a northern Gaza town, a strike on a home sheltering displaced people killed 15 civilians and injured 15 others, according to a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence. Ten more people remain missing beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings.
The ongoing bombardment has decimated large swaths of Gaza, with humanitarian safe zones offering little protection to civilians trapped in the enclave. International calls for restraint and adherence to humanitarian law have done little to halt the relentless airstrikes, artillery fire, and drone attacks on the densely populated territory.
Paula Gil, Spain president of Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, shared her concerns about the fast-deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza after her recent visit. “This does not happen in a vacuum. The hypocrisy and complicity of Israel’s allies is allowing the social fabric of Gaza to be destroyed with impunity. There are no more squares, no more schools, no more places for children to play or families to gather.
“There is no future. There is no hope. In Gaza, humanity is being destroyed, and we cannot look away.”
The escalating violence has brought catastrophic consequences to Gaza’s civilian population. Since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Health Ministry reports that Israeli military operations have killed at least 45,581 Palestinians and wounded 108,438 others.
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