Northern Gaza is experiencing a siege within a siege. For more than three weeks, the Israeli army has been carrying out a new phase of its offensive there with already terrible consequences for the civilians trapped there and certain Gazans from the north have been blocked for more than a year in Occupied West Bank. They were working in Israel when their permits were revoked. Now they helplessly watch these horror scenes live on television.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Tulkacem, Alice Froussard
Mahfouz constantly looks at his phone and, behind him, a television broadcasts images of destruction, lifeless bodies, trapped civilians. These are the images from northern Gaza.
This young 26-year-old Palestinian is from there, Jabaliya, stuck in the West Bank, far from Gaza for more than a year. But his mother, his father, his brothers and sisters are still there.
“ When it comes to communications, it’s extremely difficult, because the network is cut and sometimes it can take you three to four days before you manage to reach someone on site. », explains Mahfouz. “ Last week one of my brothers was killed. I found out a week later and by mistake, because I received a message from someone offering me their condolences. But I didn’t know, because I hadn’t been able to contact anyone. »
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Return to Gaza, despite the horror
Mahfouz’s eyes are wide open, as if he hasn’t slept in weeks. He speaks without stopping, repeating that we must stop this bloodbath. “ Today, when I think of Jabaliya, I don’t even imagine that one day I will be able to walk its streets again “, he said.
Essam, 54, also comes from Jabaliya. He has more difficulty finding his words. “ This makes me extremely sad. How is this the civilians’ fault? Especially when you look at the destruction, you see what chaos it is, that the victims are civilians, women, children, elderly people », he lists.
But these two Gazans are waiting for only one thing: to return to Gaza, despite the horror.
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