In a chilling development, at least 14 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in Israeli attacks on displacement camps in Gaza late Friday and early Saturday. The strikes, which targeted an area Israel has designated as a “humanitarian zone,” have sparked outrage and deepened fears of a looming famine in the besieged enclave.
‘Humanitarian Zone’ Under Fire
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, nine people died when Israeli jets bombed tents housing displaced families in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Eyewitnesses described a scene of devastation, with the charred remains of the flimsy shelters strewn across the sand. Among the dead were several women and children, brutally cut down in what was supposed to be a safe haven.
“They told us this was a humanitarian zone, that we would be protected here,” sobbed one bereaved woman, cradling her injured infant. “But there is no safety, no humanity, in this endless war.”
School Shelter Targeted
The tragedy in al-Mawasi was compounded by a separate strike on a school housing displaced civilians in Gaza City. At least five people perished there, including a father and his two journalist children.
“My colleagues Ahmad and Zahra were tireless in their reporting, determined to show the world the suffering of our people,”
lamented a fellow journalist, weeping at the scene.
Israel has faced mounting accusations of deliberately targeting journalists in its Gaza offensive – charges it vehemently denies. But the death toll among media workers is unprecedented, and has prompted calls for an independent investigation.
Famine on the Horizon
As the bombs continue to fall, Gaza teeters on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The UN’s Famine Review Committee warned Friday of a “strong likelihood” of imminent famine in parts of the north, where over two thirds of those killed are women and children.
“Immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors to avert this catastrophic situation,”
the global hunger monitor said in a rare alert, noting that starvation and malnutrition are “rapidly increasing.”
Images from Gaza’s refugee camps show once lively children listless with hunger, as despairing parents scrape together meager rations from depleted aid supplies. With the blockade still firmly in place, and the borders closed, Gaza’s 2 million inhabitants are trapped in an unfolding nightmare.
Cycle of Violence
Meanwhile, tensions continue to flare on other fronts. The UN accused Israel of “flagrant violations” in destroying its property in southern Lebanon, while Amsterdam police arrested dozens after clashes between Israeli and Palestinian football fans.
As a new hardline Israeli ambassador to the US prepares to take up his post, there appears to be no end in sight to the cycle of violence that has mired the Middle East for generations. For the innocents of Gaza, caught between the hammer of Hamas and the anvil of Israel’s military might, time is running out.
The haunting words of a UN official, spoken in the rubble of a bombed-out displacement camp, captured the desperation of the hour: “Without an urgent ceasefire, a massive aid operation, and an end to the blockade, Gaza faces a tidal wave of hunger and loss of life on an unprecedented scale.” The world is watching, but will it act in time?
