Gaza Diaries
Palestinian civilians are being killed in “humanitarian aid” distribution centers; And then there are the personal stories, difficult and numerous until the nerves are worn out.
By Netta Ahituv • Translated by Sol Salbe
In the last 24 hours alone, 94 people have been killed and 252 injured in IDF attacks in Gaza. This brings the death toll since the start of the war to 58,573 (in the most forgiving count).
This morning, 19 people were killed by being trampled and/or suffocated to death at a food distribution centre, and another person was stabbed. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) claims that Hamas is responsible for the chaos and states that its security guards identified gunmen among those seeking aid and were therefore “forced” to throw grenades at a humanitarian zone (a truly humanitarian zone, not like the “humanitarian” camp that Israel is setting up in Rafah) crowded with hungry people who were simply trying to collect food. Since the end of May, when the “aid” centres began operating, at least 798 people have been killed while trying to get a little food.
This is a tragedy Known in advance. Everyone warned Israel that secured aid centres, surrounded by the army, are not a good idea. Over 150 human rights and humanitarian organisations are calling on the Israeli government to immediately halt the GHF’s activities and allow the UN to return and provide food to the residents. The four distribution points in the Gaza Strip, secured and surrounded by the army, force two million people to choose between starvation and gunfire.
[Haaretz Reporter] Nir Hasson reports that five Gazan youths, aged 15–17, who went to the food distribution sites in recent weeks were arrested by the IDF. Four of them are not allowed to meet a lawyer through a military order. Hasson also reports that the Centre for the Defence of the Individual has petitioned the High Court of Justice in the case of a 16-year-old boy, who was arrested a week ago along with 17 Gazans, who were on their way to the aid distribution centre. The IDF said the minor was detained but refused to say where. In the petition, the centre staff describe the plight of the family, who knows nothing about their son, who only sought to bring food to his starving relatives. They say that witnesses who were there described violent arrest, harsh prison conditions and torture. The thoughts of the Israeli hostages, who are experiencing similar things at the hands of Hamas, are unbearable. How much more suffering will we cause each other?
And what about the beach strip? “I miss the sea in all its aspects, I really miss everything,” Noa Galili from Gisha — Local Centre for Freedom of Movement quotes Muhammad, a young fisher, whom Israel is currently banning from fishing in the Gaza Strip. It is not clear what danger the 300 fisherfolk of Gaza pose, but instead of using them as an element that could reduce hunger in the Gaza Strip, they are being comprehensively denied all access to the sea.
Back to the ground. According to aerial photographs analysed by Adi Ben Nun, a lecturer in the Department of Geography and head of the Geographical Mapping System Unit (GMS) at the Hebrew University, 70 per cent of the buildings in Gaza are destroyed. Rafah is the crown jewel of Israeli domicide, where about 90 per cent of the buildings have been destroyed. The concentration camp that Israel Katz proposes to establish with open joy will therefore be built on the ruins of Rafah.
And then there are the personal stories, difficult and numerous until the nerves are worn out. It is difficult to contain everything, but sometimes shocking stories float above the level of containment. This morning, a story about an entire family — six adults and seven children — who were killed in an air force attack at night inside their home in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City pierces the remaining fragments of the heart. So far, par for the course, except that the IDF prevented Gaza rescuers from accessing the ruins of the building and rescuing the family members for eight hours. Every attempt to approach the scene was met with drone attacks. Chilling footage of the family members trying to survive under the rubble until they came to rescue them, an attempt that failed, was circulated online. Their cries for help were heard live around the world. In the afternoon, when the rescuers’ arrival was finally authorised, it turned out that none of them were left alive. Until now, no one in the military has bothered to comment.
