The color that dominates the usually multicolored fruit and vegetable market of Jabalya is now black: the black of the smoke, the black of the debris scattered everywhere, of the charred corpses. The bombs launched by Israel caused at least 50 deaths. Nobody expected them here: this morning the market was crowded with people as bakers, shops and supermarkets are now empty after two days of fighting. After the attack, while waiting for ambulances, the bodies of the victims were removed by volunteers who dug through the burning rubble. The less seriously injured were cared for in private homes. Everything is missing in the besieged Strip, but escape is now impossible.
The families who still have a home remain locked inside, some with their dead, without displaying, as usual, the mourning signs. The medical teams are exhausted: the injured are waiting outside the hospitals, lying on beds or even on benches waiting to be admitted to the emergency room. The Ministry of Health has launched an appeal to those with medical knowledge to volunteer. Making the situation in Jabalya even more dramatic is the presence of 20 thousand displaced people from the nearby town of Beit Hanun, on the border with Israel, who spent the night in the open.
After the massacre it was all a stampede. “Some in the neighborhood – says a witness – received messages from Israel that we had to evacuate. Also because here in Jabalya there are no shelters: some found shelter in the garage, others were hosted by UNRWA. After the attack, many went to the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, in the belief that it will not be bombed. I should have left too but in the end I decided to stay at home even though I hear echoes of explosions in the distance. But I packed a bag with all the important things: passports, identity cards, the computer and some money. I have to settle for 300 dollars: I can’t go to the bank because it’s closed. Food is scarce and petrol has run out.”
What is frightening now is the Israeli siege from which few have managed to escape and the imminent entry of Israeli troops from land. “We are fighting human animals and we will behave accordingly,” warned Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The premises are these.
A 55-year-old Palestinian witness lost his home when it was hit by a Jewish air raid. He lived on the first floor and said he and his family had received warnings from Israel only moments before the building was hit. “We left the tower with only the clothes we were wearing,” he said, adding that he and his family now have nothing left and nowhere to go.
All crossings outside the territory are closed, except for Rafah, which is strictly controlled by Egypt. There is no longer any escape route from the besieged enclave.
Read the full article on ANSA.it
2023-10-09 21:07:00
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