The withdrawal of Israeli forces revealed a staggering level of destruction, reducing the neighborhood to rubble.
In the aftermath of a prolonged Israeli ground offensive in the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya, Palestinian rescue and ambulance crews have recovered over 60 bodies of victims from the rubble of destroyed buildings, with many more feared trapped beneath the debris, the WAFA news agency reported.
Local sources reported that the Israeli airstrikes and ground operations have decimated more than 85% of residential buildings in Shejaiya, rendering the area uninhabitable and akin to a devastated wasteland.
A medical clinic that served over 60,000 citizens was also destroyed, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, according to WAFA.
The withdrawal of Israeli forces revealed a staggering level of destruction, reducing the neighborhood to rubble.
“We are steadfast and we will rebuild it again”
A Palestinian woman sends a message as she returned to the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza following the Israeli occupation’s withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/c1mmaXRm8e
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) July 11, 2024
Entire residential blocks have been leveled, streets obliterated, and critical infrastructure targeted throughout the area.
Eyewitnesses from the neighborhood recounted harrowing tales of Israeli forces firing on civilians as they attempted to evacuate, despite designated exit routes
Evacuation Orders
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue their incursion into Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and several others in Gaza City, systematically targeting all aspects of life.
Initial estimates indicate at least 50 civilians have been killed in Tel al-Hawa, with reports of families trapped in areas surrounded by advancing Israeli military vehicles, unreachable due to ongoing bombardments.
Last Monday, Israeli forces simultaneously invaded western neighborhoods of Gaza City, issuing evacuation orders for the local population to evacuate to Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
One of the prominent "attractions" in the Shejaiya neighborhood after the departure of the maneuvering forces is the remains of #Israeli APCs that the forces left in the field.
I will mention that these are M113 (Zelda) type APCs which, according to Palestinian reports, (1/4) pic.twitter.com/ofmkMGEiCN— Abu Ali Express English (@AbuAliEnglishB1) July 11, 2024
In a related incident, at least five civilians were killed and others injured this evening in an Israeli airstrike on a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Additionally, three civilians were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Rashid Street west of Nuseirat camp.
Meanwhile, another civilian was killed and several others wounded due to Israeli shelling on the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood west of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 38,345 Palestinians have been killed, and 88,295 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
‘Fueling Mass Suffering’ – Israeli Army Orders ‘Everyone’ to Leave Gaza City
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, WAFA)