GAZA: “The enemy makes up for the days of ‘calm’ with mass massacres… and demolition ‘parties.”

Published in Al-Akhbar by Youssef Fares.

Featured image:  A close-up of “No Words”, Gaza artist Malak Mattar
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Gaza | In retrospect, the “israeli” occupation forces made up for the relative calm that accompanied the early days of the war on Iran, particularly in its targeting of tents housing displaced people and inhabited homes. Yesterday marked the bloodiest day in recent memory, as the courtyards of both Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist hospitals turned into human slaughterhouses, lined with dozens of martyrs’ bodies that continued to arrive on donkey carts and civilian vehicles.

Piles of mutilated bodies and torn limbs accumulated, arriving successively from the town of Jabalia, where dozens of massacres were committed—most notably the bombing of a residential block consisting of three homes belonging to the Asaliya and Dardouna families. According to local sources, the three homes were completely destroyed, and their roofs collapsed on nearly 100 civilians who were inside. Emergency and rescue crews managed to retrieve only 14 bodies.

In the same neighborhood, the “israeli” army threatened to evacuate dozens of homes on Old Gaza Street. According to resident Khalil Khader, an “israeli” intelligence officer called him and asked him to walk through his neighborhood and shout for all residents to evacuate their homes in preparation for bombing.

Since the beginning of the “Gideon’s Chariots” campaign, the town of Jabalia and the eastern areas of Al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City have been subjected to daily and systematic demolitions. According to eyewitnesses, thousands of homes in eastern Al-Tuffah and Al-Jarn neighborhoods in Jabalia have been leveled to the ground. In addition to using booby-trapped robots, the “israeli” army has employed “israeli” contracting companies with heavy machinery to carry out a single mission: demolition and the destruction of infrastructure—replicating the model used in Rafah and Jabalia refugee camp.

In Al-Shati camp, which is overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people, the occupation army committed a mass massacre by targeting a popular market, resulting in the deaths of 16 civilians and the injury of dozens. During daylight hours, drones struck dozens of targets in Gaza City to the north and Khan Younis to the south—most of them tents sheltering displaced persons—killing dozens of civilians.

In the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, warplanes bombed an inhabited house, killing five civilians. A civilian vehicle carrying three people was also bombed, killing all passengers instantly.

Meanwhile, “israeli” artillery killed six civilians who were waiting for aid in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. In Al-Karama neighborhood in northwestern Gaza City, warplanes struck the home of the Zubda family, killing the entire family. Medical teams were unable to extract the bodies from the rubble. According to medical sources, more than 100 martyrs were received by hospitals yesterday, with another 80 still trapped under the rubble—marking the highest death toll recorded since the war on Iran began.

On the humanitarian front, for the third consecutive month, the occupation army continues to sabotage the work of international organizations that distribute aid, restricting food access to either American aid distribution centers or to those who gather along the aid truck routes in the “Netzarim” area in central Gaza and “Zikim” in the north. However, these chaotic methods cause dozens of deaths and injuries among young people daily.

At the American distribution centers, the scene is even more grim and desperate. According to testimony by citizen Moataz Billah Al-Kafarna, the occupation army seizes any opportunity or pretext to open fire or launch projectiles at the crowds—especially if they arrive a few minutes late or slightly early. Al-Kafarna said, “The soldiers started cursing at us and ordering us to move back. When we entered the distribution site, American soldiers fired pepper spray at us.”

This ongoing chaos in distribution methods has led to the rise of organized gangs of merchants who monopolize scarce goods, driving prices to record levels—flour reaching $20 per kilogram, sugar $90, and rice $20. Additionally, all areas of the Gaza Strip have plunged into a severe water crisis, as acute fuel shortages have halted the main wells that supply large swaths of Gaza City and Khan Younis.

Hospitals across the Strip have also sounded the alarm. The “israeli” army has blocked the entry of medical supplies for three months, and the shutdown of facilities in the northern governorate has overwhelmed Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist hospitals—both operating only partially after the destruction of their key departments.