August 9, 2024
A wave of fresh
bombings and military ground operations by Israel were underway in the city of
Khan Younis on Friday as images of Palestinian families once again forced to
flee plastered global news sites and world leaders, including the United
States, refused to intervene to stop the relentless assault being inflicted on
the people of Gaza.
Palestinians leave their home after Israel
issued an evacuation warning as Israel's attacks continue in eastern
Khan Yunis, Gaza on August 08, 2024. (Photo by Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Al-Jazeera reports
the southern city—which its reporter on the ground, Hani Mahmoud, described as
"uninhabitable" and turning into a "wasteland"— was bombed
approximately 30 times in "just a few hours" overnight. With
evacuation orders by the Israeli military sweeping up and down the Gaza Strip
week after week, the internally displaced population is forced to move time and
again.
"What we
see on the ground is recurrent displacement for many families who just made
their way back to their homes," Mahmoud reported early Friday.
With tanks on
the ground, adding shelling to the bombs being dropped from the air, Reuters reports
how families "fled eastern Khan Younis in vehicles and on foot, belongings
heaped on donkey carts and motorcycle rickshaws as they made their slow escape
along congested roads."
Ghazi Abu Daka,
one evacuee fleeing Khan Younis, told the Associated Press Thursday that this
was the fourth time he and his family had been forced to flee the city.
"Every day
there is war. Every day there are rockets. There is no safe place in the
eastern area. Now, we are displaced in the streets and don't know where to
go," he said, carrying his son in his arms in the scorching heat.
The intensified
overnight bombing came just hours after a joint statement Thursday evening from
the United States, Qatar, and Egypt signaled a fresh round of mediated
negotiations between Israel and Hamas to end the onslaught in exchange for the
release of Israeli prisoners still being held since last year's cross-border
attack on October 7 of last year.
"There is
no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,"
the joint statement read in part, indicating that a framework for an agreement
would be the basis for the new round of talks that were derailed completely
last month after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated, almost certainly
by Israel, in Tehran last month.
While French
President Emanuel Macron welcomed news of news talks, posting on X that the
"war in Gaza must stop," the United States, under President Joe
Biden, has continued to give Israel the green light to carry out its
campaign—and provided many of the weapons to sustain it—despite months of
presented evidence that the nature of Israel's assault has resulted in war
crimes and crimes against humanity.
At a rally in
Detroit, Michigan on Wednesday evening, protesters calling for an end to the
genocidal assault on Gaza demanded that Vice President Kamala Harris, now the
presidential Democratic nominee, commit to supporting an arms embargo against
Israel as a way to bring the war to an end.
While Harris
suggested a willingness to engage with those interrupting the rally and address
their concerns, members of her team later clarified Harris "does not
support" such an embargo.
Despite
miniscule hopes that fresh talks next week could broker some progress, Drop
Site journalist Jeremy Scahill Thursday agreed with those who argue that the
"most effective action the U.S. could take to halt Israel's genocidal war
would be cutting off weapons."
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