The Al-Mawasi area has been attacked despite Israeli forces designating it as a “safe haven” for Palestinians following its ground invasion of Rafah in early May.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has evacuated its temporary administrative headquarters in the southern Gaza Strip due to Israeli attacks on the area.
The organization “fully evacuated its temporary administrative headquarters in the Mawasi Khan Younis area due to shrapnel falling on the building and direct shelling, which posed a danger to the staff working inside,” it said on X on Saturday.
The Al-Mawasi area was designated by the Israeli military as a “safe haven” for Palestinians following its ground invasion of Rafah in early May.
However, Israeli forces have attacked the area since already displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah were forced to evacuate to Al-Mawasi.
🚨The Palestine Red Crescent Society fully evacuated its temporary administrative headquarters in the Mawasi Khan Younis area due to shrapnel falling on the building and direct shelling, which posed a danger to the staff working inside.#NotATarget #Gaza
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 29, 2024
ICRC Attacked
On June 22, at least 25 Palestinians were killed and 50 others injured when Israeli forces shelled tents housing displaced people in the area.
Witnesses told the Anadolu news agency that two Israeli Merkava tanks positioned on a hill opposite the Shakoush area in western Rafah fired artillery shells at a gathering of displaced people near the gate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) field hospital, resulting in multiple casualties.
In a statement, the ICRC confirmed that “heavy-caliber projectiles landed within meters” of its office and residences.
The strike damaged the structure of the ICRC office, which was “surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents, including many of our Palestinian colleagues.”
‘Heavy-Caliber Projectiles’ – Israeli Tanks Shell Tents in Al-Mawasi Camp Killing At Least 25
The organization added that the “grave security incident is one of several in recent days,” adding that previously stray bullets have reached ICRC structures.
The Al Mawasi area, which spans 7.5 miles (12 km) along the Mediterranean coast, lacks residential infrastructure, with no sewage systems, electricity lines, or communication networks. According to Anadolu, most of the land is divided into agricultural greenhouses or sandy expanses.
Healthcare Workers Killed
Earlier this month, the PRCS said up to 33 of its paramedics and crew had been killed in Gaza since October 7, including 19 who were killed while performing their duty, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The British charity Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) said in a statement on Wednesday that as of June 25, 500 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza during the same period.
Palestinian Doctors, Hospitals and Health Care Workers are Primary Israeli Military Targets in Gaza
“This equates to an average of two healthcare workers killed every day, with one in every 40 healthcare workers, or 2.5% of Gaza’s healthcare workforce, now dead,” MAP said.
It added: “More healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza since October than were reported killed in all conflicts globally in 2021 and 2022 combined.”
Ongoing Death Toll
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, 37,877 Palestinians have been killed, and 86,969 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
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.
‘Desperate Times’ – UNRWA Says People in Gaza Deprived of Basic Necessities
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.
(PC, Anadolu)
It’s going to be interesting how Israel and its Western backers whitewash and bluster through this. As far as I can see, the inevitable Israel-US-etc excuse – “there are no innocents in Gaza” and the like – warrant Saudi Arabia and other members of the Arab League, tearing up any agreements they have with the US on account of its racisms, expressed in support of Israel’s genocidal killing of medical staff and pathetic lies about it. The US is teadily forfeiting peoples’ trust.