Al-Mawasi used to be a place of rare beauty on the overcrowded coast of the Gaza Strip. Stretching for around 12 km (7.5 miles) between Khan Younis and Rafah, it was one of the most magnificent beach areas, with undulating dunes of golden sand. Its beautiful scenery, stunning sunsets and calm sea breezes have made it a popular place for families.
But al-Mawasi, the serene beach spot, is no more. Israel’s genocide transformed the country from a playground into an area of endless horror.
In late October, as Israeli planes rained bombs and missiles across the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) designated al-Mawasi as “a safe area” where Palestinian civilians fleeing Israeli aggression could supposedly find safety. Israeli commanders would later state that they considered it a “permanent security zone.”
Although there was almost no infrastructure in al-Mawasi and aid agencies warned that it was not suitable for a displacement camp, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza City, my hometown of Khan Younis, and later Rafah They flocked there, having no other place to go. Many set up makeshift shelters with plastic sheets or blankets, barely managing to protect their families’ dignity. Life in the camp was miserable, with hunger, disease and thirst plaguing its inhabitants.
It soon became clear that the “permanent security zone” was not safe at all.
In February, the IOF attacked al-Mawasi, including a hideout for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff and families, killing two people and injuring six, including women and children.
In late May, the IOF shelled the area again, killing at least 21 Palestinians, including 12 women. The attack occurred just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to stop its genocidal offensive against Rafah.
On June 21, the IOF attacked al-Mawasi again, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding 50.
These are just a few examples of the IOF’s ongoing attacks, to which the Western media has paid little attention and about which it offers few details beyond Israeli denials.
On June 27th, I woke up to a message from my family doctor. My heart sank as I read your description of yet another attack on al-Mawasi. This time, the IOF targeted al-Shakush and the regional park areas.
“These areas are full of displaced people, tent camps, pergola tents and temporary shelters. People live on top of each other”, said the message from my family member. “The tanks entered, without warning, running over some tents and opening fire indiscriminately. I saw people running away in terror. Some managed to grab some of their personal belongings, while others left with nothing – running for their lives.
“Many were lying on the ground, away from the shots. Others took refuge in any available shelter, while some sat on the street, waiting for what seemed like an endless nightmare to end.
“Today I went to the hospital and saw a large number of injured people from that area,” the message continued. “This relentless process of chasing, chasing and hunting people from one place to another, similar to monsters hunting prey, is beyond my understanding.”
The next day I received a statement from another doctor, who also testified to what happened in al-Shakush.
He was returning from his shift at a hospital when Israeli tanks began arriving from different directions, firing indiscriminately without any warning. He rushed to rescue his family, managing to get them out. The fire started, turning the scene into an inferno.
In panic, people left all their belongings and some even their children, which they ran back to as they fled in terror. On the way and while running, the doctor helped people load the dead and injured into donkey carts, but he was unable to offer any medical help. Like others, he ran to save his life and the lives of his family. As soon as they arrived at what they thought was a safe place, his wife fainted from terror.
The United Nations reported “dozens of casualties” and at least 5,000 people displaced by Israel’s renewed attack on al-Mawasi. Medical sources spoke of at least 11 dead and 40 injured.
A few days after the al-Mawasi massacre on July 1, the scene of devastation and horror moved to the eastern part of Khan Younis, which used to be one of the most picturesque areas of the Gaza Strip. The cities of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Khuza’a and the al-Fukhari neighborhood, which houses the European Hospital, were ordered to evacuate.
The IOF orders arrived at night, giving residents no time to pack their belongings. Among the ruins of their destroyed homes and makeshift tents, people faced such immense anguish that a family member described the experience as if they were living on “judgment day”.
According to the UN, the IOF forced a quarter of a million people to leave Khan Younis. The European Hospital also had to be evacuated, with many of its patients transferred by their families in donkey carts to the devastated Nasser Hospital, which was also the scene of a recent massacre.
In the exodus, reminiscent of previous mass displacements of the past nine months, people migrated to al-Mawasi, which was still recovering from Israeli attacks. Many were in fact returning to al-Mawasi, having left weeks earlier for the ruins of their homes in Khan Younis to make room for the flow of people fleeing Rafah. The return to Khan Younis was prompted by the IOF’s own assertions that it was safe for fleeing Rafah residents to head there, as well as to al-Mawasi.
As with any displacement, people endured the torment of searching for family members – living or dead – while seeking new temporary shelters and securing water, food, toilets and other necessities.
My brothers and their families, also displaced in al-Mawasi since December, described to me the terrified faces of children, women and men, sick and elderly, wandering the streets without guidance.
Today, nine out of ten Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety, moving from place to place, from tent to tent, only to be attacked and forced to flee again. The entire population of the Gaza Strip, more than half of whom are children, is being subjected to unimaginable – but all too real – levels of cruelty.
The systematic and constant attacks on Palestinians in the so-called “safe zones”, together with the destruction of their infrastructure, make no sense militarily. They seem to have the sole objective of killing and terrorizing as many civilians as possible.
My sister told me that now everyone expects to die and is mentally prepared for any kind of death, “but probably the hardest thing is dying from oppression”.
Yes, Palestinians die because of Israeli bombs, because of Israeli bullets, but also because of the feeling of oppression. It’s that unbearable feeling you get when you witness the ongoing genocide, hour after hour, you know your and your family’s turn is coming and you can’t stop it. It’s the unbearable feeling you get when you hear the screams of the wounded dying in agony, see children without limbs and know you can’t help them. It’s the unbearable feeling you get when you know that the world watched the genocide for nine months and did nothing to stop it.
Palestinians believe that the IOF intends to destroy “al-bashar wa al-hajar wa al-shajar” – the humans, the rocks and the trees – that is, everything. Nine months after the start of this genocide, it is more than evident that this aggression is not against the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, also known as Hamas. It is a total war against Palestinian existence.
This conclusion was also confirmed by human rights experts. “This murder is nothing more than the destruction of Palestinian life,” South African lawyer Adila Hassim told the ICJ during a hearing into Israel’s genocide case in January.
The inaction and complicity of the Western world, the lack of adequate investigation of these crimes and the slowness of procedures in international organizations – including the delay in the arrest warrants of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, at the International Criminal Court – reflect a gross disregard for accountability and justice. The deliberate attack on Palestinian life is not only a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, but an attack on the very foundations of humanitarian principles and human dignity.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
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