Escalating Israeli assault traps Gaza City residents in fear

Since Israel announced its plan to fully occupy Gaza City, the military has intensified its offensive with air strikes, artillery shelling, and explosions, leaving residents in a constant state of fear, Middle East Eye reported on August 29th.

“This time, it’s different,” many residents say. Although Gaza has endured near-continuous bombardment since October 2023, the current escalation is unprecedented. Home to nearly one million civilians, the city has been rocked day and night by strikes, particularly on its northern, southern, and southeastern outskirts, flattening buildings one after another.

The scale of destruction has alarmed residents. “We feel that the type of missiles used this time are more powerful and fierce,” said Reham Abu al-Beidh, who lives in Abu Iskandar. “The sound of the explosions is more terrifying, and their destructive power is greater.”

Nasser Matar, a 35-year-old father of three, echoed the same fears: “The army is targeting buildings just 200 to 300 metres away from us. It’s become too dangerous to even step outside the front door, as quadcopters fire at any movement they detect.”

Others describe the frightening new use of remotely controlled robots carrying explosives, often aimed at residential areas. Matar, who lives in al-Saftawi in northern Gaza, recalled waking in the night to a “frightening sound of movement,” only to discover the source was one of these robots. “The explosions feel like an earthquake,” he said.

For some, the consequences have been physically devastating. Bassem Mounir al-Hanawi, a resident of northern Gaza City, recounted: “Two days ago, they detonated a robot about a kilometre away from us. A piece of shrapnel weighing 150kg landed right next to us. If that piece of shrapnel had hit a tent or anyone nearby, it would have been enough to kill them and cause a massacre on its own.”

The escalation has compounded a sense of relentless fear, with aerial and ground attacks striking without warning, killing and injuring scores of Palestinians. For many, leaving is no longer an option. After nearly two years of bombardment, repeated displacements have exhausted families both physically and mentally.

“We’ve been displaced more than seven times. Our lives have been ruined, and we’ve lost so much. We lost my father,” said Hanawi. “We’ve become desperate and frustrated. Whatever happens, happens.”

According to the United Nations, over 90 percent of Gaza’s population has been forcibly displaced during the war, many fleeing multiple times. Under Israel’s new occupation plan, residents of Gaza City are now being told to flee south. But with no genuine safe zones, given that “safe” areas have also been bombed, many refuse to leave.

“We are forced to stay and prefer dying in our homes over fleeing,” said Beidh, a 29-year-old nurse. “There are no places to flee to. The occupation lies in all its claims about safe zones. There is no safe place in Gaza.”

Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 63,000 Palestinians and wounded over 150,000. Even Israeli military data suggests that more than 80% of those killed are civilians.

“Fear and tension are constant,” Beidh said. “We are afraid for ourselves, our loved ones, and what remains of our homes. We are afraid for Gaza, for our future, and for lives that have been on hold for two years because of this ongoing genocide.”

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org