Palestinians examine the aftermath of an Israeli strike on tents housing displaced individuals in Deir Al Balah, located in the central Gaza Strip, on November 13, 2024. — Reuters
Israel asserts that its forces have eliminated hundreds of militants in the northern region. Israeli military operations resulted in the death of at least 14 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. This escalation coincided with Israeli forces intensifying their incursion into Beit Hanoun town in the north, compelling most remaining residents to evacuate. Local residents reported that Israeli forces surrounded shelters accommodating displaced families and the remaining populace, estimated at a few thousand, instructing them to move south through a checkpoint that divides two towns and a refugee camp in the north from Gaza City. Men were detained for questioning, whereas women and children were permitted to proceed towards Gaza City, according to residents and Palestinian medics.
Israel's ongoing campaign in northern Gaza, which has led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of Palestinians, has sparked accusations from Palestinians that the area is being cleared to serve as a buffer zone and potentially for the resettlement of Jewish settlers. 'The scenes of the 1948 catastrophe are being replayed. Israel is repeating its massacres, displacements, and destructions,' stated Saed, a 48-year-old resident of Beit Lahiya who arrived in Gaza City on Wednesday. 'North Gaza is being transformed into a vast buffer zone; Israel is conducting ethnic cleansing under the watchful eyes and ears of a powerless world,' he conveyed to Reuters via a chat app.
Saed's remarks allude to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which led to the establishment of the state of Israel and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their hometowns and villages within present-day Israel. The Israeli military has refuted any such intentions, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has affirmed that he does not seek to reverse the 2005 withdrawal of settlers from Gaza. However, hardliners within his government have openly discussed the possibility of returning.
The Israeli military claims to have eliminated hundreds of Hamas militants in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun during its recent military offensive, which commenced over a month ago. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad's armed wing have claimed responsibility for the deaths of several Israeli soldiers through ambushes and anti-tank rocket attacks. Medics reported that five individuals were killed in an Israeli strike near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, while five others perished in two separate strikes in Nuseirat, where the army initiated a limited raid two days prior. In Rafah, close to the border with Egypt, one man was killed and several others were injured in an Israeli airstrike. Additionally, three Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in the Shejaia suburb of Gaza City, according to medics.
Hamas-led gunmen launched an attack on Israel in October, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people and the capture of over 250 hostages, according to Israeli records. Palestinian health officials estimate that more than 43,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past year. Gaza has been reduced to a desolate landscape of destroyed buildings and mounds of rubble, where over two million Gazans are seeking refuge in makeshift tents, grappling with shortages of food and medical supplies.
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