April 9, 2025
Ahmed Aziz
Ahmed Aziz
Israeli attacks across the besieged enclave have wrecked havoc, as military mulls turning Rafah into a buffer zone
Funeral procession for nine killed in Israeli strikes on tents
sheltering displaced people shelling of displaced Palestinians west of
Khan Younis, southern Gaza (MEE/Ahmed Aziz)
Israeli jets struck a block of homes in Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood on Wednesday, killing over 35 people and leaving dozens more wounded and trapped under the rubble.
This marks one of the deadliest attacks in recent days, targeting multiple adjacent homes in the war-torn area.
Rescue teams are concerned that many individuals are buried beneath the debris of at least 10 destroyed buildings, while hospitals and medical personnel are overwhelmed with the wounded.
Other areas across the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, and Beit Hanoun, were also hit on Wednesday.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the majority of victims in these attack have been women and children.
"My heart is torn... it feels like something big has been ripped away," said a woman who lost her son earlier that day. She did not give a name.
"A new wound has been opened," she told Middle East Eye through tears, as she recalled the previous killings of her family members, including her husband, sister and brother.
"God curse the Arab nations, God is enough, God curse Israel," she cried out, as those around her tried to console her in her grief.
Mai Abu Shaweesh, who lost her husband Sameer Salman Abu Shaweesh, told MEE that he was just sitting in their tent when Israel attacked in Khan Younis.
"We are displaced. This is tyranny. What is happening is tyranny," the mother of four said, adding that she is holding on because of patience and resilience.
"We wish that the war would stop, it's enough."
Her 16-year-old daughter, Idolu Abu Shaweesh, said they were having dinner when her mother received a message that read: "Your husband was martyred."
"People were gathering around us, and they said my father was martyred," she cried.
Unlike her mother, she did not expect the tents to be bombed, as the al-Mawasi area had been considered a safe zone.
"It's supposed to be a safe area, but with the Israelis, there's no safety. They strike everywhere."
"[I want] the war to stop. I want to go see my father's grave."
'Annihilate' Gaza land for buffer zone
Since its re-invasion of Gaza last month, the Israeli military have killed nearly 1,500 Palestinians, and more than 50,800 since October 2023.
Israeli ground and aerial forces have been relentlessly attacking and bombing the besieged enclave since they restarted the war on 18 March.
Recent testimonies given to the Israeli veteran NGO Breaking the Silence reveal the orders soldiers received to conduct missions searching for corpses and the razing of vast stretches of Gaza.
According to Israeli soldiers interviewed for the report, titled "The Perimeter", the army created a perimeter, between 800 and 1500 metres in breadth and 1.5km inside the Gaza Strip, where "large swathes of the land were turned into massive kill zones".
Israeli troops were given orders to raze agricultural land, destroy residential blocks and open fire on anyone who came near them to make way for deadly buffer zones in Gaza.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday that the army plans to turn Rafah, a densely populated Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip, into a buffer zone.
Troops have raided prominent residential neighbourhoods in the city and indiscriminately killed civilians, including executing medics, while forcing tens of thousands to flee on foot.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the capture of an area that he referred to as the "Morag axis" between Khan Younis and Rafah, stretching from east to west across the Gaza Strip.
This marks one of the deadliest attacks in recent days, targeting multiple adjacent homes in the war-torn area.
Rescue teams are concerned that many individuals are buried beneath the debris of at least 10 destroyed buildings, while hospitals and medical personnel are overwhelmed with the wounded.
Other areas across the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, and Beit Hanoun, were also hit on Wednesday.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the majority of victims in these attack have been women and children.
"My heart is torn... it feels like something big has been ripped away," said a woman who lost her son earlier that day. She did not give a name.
"A new wound has been opened," she told Middle East Eye through tears, as she recalled the previous killings of her family members, including her husband, sister and brother.
"God curse the Arab nations, God is enough, God curse Israel," she cried out, as those around her tried to console her in her grief.
Mai Abu Shaweesh, who lost her husband Sameer Salman Abu Shaweesh, told MEE that he was just sitting in their tent when Israel attacked in Khan Younis.
"We are displaced. This is tyranny. What is happening is tyranny," the mother of four said, adding that she is holding on because of patience and resilience.
"We wish that the war would stop, it's enough."
Her 16-year-old daughter, Idolu Abu Shaweesh, said they were having dinner when her mother received a message that read: "Your husband was martyred."
"People were gathering around us, and they said my father was martyred," she cried.
Unlike her mother, she did not expect the tents to be bombed, as the al-Mawasi area had been considered a safe zone.
"It's supposed to be a safe area, but with the Israelis, there's no safety. They strike everywhere."
"[I want] the war to stop. I want to go see my father's grave."
'Annihilate' Gaza land for buffer zone
Since its re-invasion of Gaza last month, the Israeli military have killed nearly 1,500 Palestinians, and more than 50,800 since October 2023.
Israeli ground and aerial forces have been relentlessly attacking and bombing the besieged enclave since they restarted the war on 18 March.
Recent testimonies given to the Israeli veteran NGO Breaking the Silence reveal the orders soldiers received to conduct missions searching for corpses and the razing of vast stretches of Gaza.
According to Israeli soldiers interviewed for the report, titled "The Perimeter", the army created a perimeter, between 800 and 1500 metres in breadth and 1.5km inside the Gaza Strip, where "large swathes of the land were turned into massive kill zones".
Israeli troops were given orders to raze agricultural land, destroy residential blocks and open fire on anyone who came near them to make way for deadly buffer zones in Gaza.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday that the army plans to turn Rafah, a densely populated Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip, into a buffer zone.
Troops have raided prominent residential neighbourhoods in the city and indiscriminately killed civilians, including executing medics, while forcing tens of thousands to flee on foot.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the capture of an area that he referred to as the "Morag axis" between Khan Younis and Rafah, stretching from east to west across the Gaza Strip.
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