Beit Lahia massacres.. Israel intensifies targeting of the last refuge for Palestinians in northern Gaza

Palestinians are living through difficult moments, including the Hamouda family, who are still trapped inside their home in the town of Beit Lahia, the last refuge for the people of the northern Gaza Strip, as the massacres continue since the start of the Israeli military operation on October 5.

Describing the suffering of Palestinians in northern Gaza amid death, hunger and terror, Osama Hamouda, a member of the besieged family, told Anadolu Agency that "the Israeli army has intensified its targeting of the town and its surroundings in recent nights. Vehicles advanced towards citizens' homes and shelters from more than one axis, and drones and snipers covered the area with fire to target every moving target."

"In addition, the Israeli forces carried out bombing and detonation operations that affected a number of streets in the town, leaving massive destruction in citizens' homes and infrastructure, which was revealed with the dawn of the morning and the repositioning of the Israeli forces," according to Hamouda.

Regarding the moments of terror that he and his family recently experienced, he said: “We did not expect to survive that night in any way. We were waiting for the moment when the house would collapse on us, but God’s care preserved us and we are still alive until this time.”

During the past weeks, the Israeli army forced Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to flee the governorate, but those who refused the orders headed to the town of Beit Lahia, where the displaced stayed in some shelters and homes.

The displaced people in the town of Beit Lahia are living in catastrophic conditions due to the lack of water and food and the escalating Israeli bombardment against them.

On October 5, the Israeli army invaded the northern Gaza Strip under the pretext of "preventing Hamas from regaining its strength in the area."

He stressed: "We expected the military operation to end in a few weeks, as in its predecessors, but as the end of its second month approaches, the situation has become more difficult and death is getting closer to every person who has held out in the northern Gaza Strip."

endless massacres

The massacres committed by the Israeli army in the northern Gaza Strip do not stop, and have increased in the past few days in the town of Beit Lahia, the last refuge for the displaced in the area.

The most prominent massacres committed by the Israeli army during the past two days were against the families of “Al-Baba”, “Ahmed” and “Al-Araj”.

No medical teams were able to reach the targeted homes because the emergency system in the northern Gaza Strip had been out of service for weeks, and ambulances and civil defense vehicles had been destroyed.

According to medical sources who spoke to the Anadolu Agency correspondent, "the Israeli massacres from Thursday to Saturday resulted in the killing of about 150 Palestinians, most of whom fell in the town of Beit Lahia."

Despite the inability of medical teams to work in the northern Gaza Strip, some young men and residents are trying to head towards the targeted homes to try to extract the bodies of the dead and injured and transport them for treatment.

Among them is the young man Saeb Yousef, who reached more than one house that the Israeli army bombed over the heads of its residents in the town of Beit Lahia during the past few days.

Youssef told Anadolu Agency: "We are trying as much as possible to extract the bodies and the injured without any equipment, and we succeeded many times, but many times we stood helpless and unable to do anything, despite hearing the voices of living citizens asking for help under the rubble."

He stressed, "Every house that is bombed has dozens of displaced people and they all die because there is no way to save them or remove the rubble from above them."

Youssef concluded by saying: "If there were the capabilities to retrieve the victims, the number of dead would be much less, but the occupation is deliberately increasing the number of martyrs to take revenge on those who refused to leave their homes."

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 149,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Israel continues its massacres, ignoring two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court on November 21 against its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinians.

Anatolia