Palestinians Cling to Poles of Tents in Possible Israeli Ground Assault on Gaza
(AWP) - Displaced Palestinians are sticking to poles of a tent to shelter them in Khan Younes, southern Gaza, and have fears about one more displacement in light of Israel’s plans to wage a ground assault on the strip.
Israel did not conceal its intention to attack Gaza on the ground since gunmen from Hamas Movement and other Palestinian factions waged a surprise attack, from which they returned with more than 200 captives after they killed 1,400 Israelis in nearby towns and settlements.
As the crisis gets closer to four weeks that saw the death of more than 8,000 Palestinians and the injury of more than 21,000 in continued Israeli raids on Gaza, the inhabitants of the enclave feel concerned about Israeli ground assault plans as operations described as “limited” have already been carried out in northern and central Gaza.
Israeli military vehicles have been seen in a region known to the Palestinians as “al-Khasira al-Rakhwa’ in northern Gaza, where Palestinians gunmen clashed with Israeli troops on Sunday.
The clashes renewed on Monday as the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas Movement, said its elements clashed with Israeli forces that infiltrated into the southern Gaza axis.
The Brigades, on its account on the social media platform Telegram, said it had targeted an Israeli tank and bulldozer in northwestern Gaza axis with two al-Yassin 105 projectiles.
The field developments taking place for two days are a cause for concern to thousands of Palestinians who were forced by Israeli ultimatums and continued shelling to relocate to Khan Younes in the south in search of a safe place.
They are worried they might have another displacement. Some of them said they were pitching and widening tents to possibly stay there for a longer period of time.
“We are expecting a ground onslaught any time. As for us now, since there are beginnings of a ground attack, we thought matters could take months, not just a week or two.
Accordingly, we are pitching the tent once again to shelter us for a longer period of time,” said Fadi Tantish, a displaced Palestinian from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
His brother, Nahid, said displacement once again is “not an option.”
“We are enduring the circumstances as much as we can. We will not be displaced for a third time. We will stay here and will never leave,” he added.