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Monday, December 4, 2023
The Nexus of American Imperialism and Israeli Settler Colonialism and Its Mutual Destruction of Gaza--Part Two
Palestinian citizens inspect the destruction caused by air strikes on their homes on December 03, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Getty Images News
More than 700 people were killed in the Gaza Strip in just 24 hours,
the Health Ministry in the besieged territory said Sunday, as Israeli
bombings escalated following a brief pause and wider evacuation orders
stoke fears of wider displacement and carnage.
Overnight and into Sunday, intense bombing was reported in Khan
Younis, Rafah, and some northern parts targeted by Israel’s air and
ground attacks.
“Everywhere you turn to, there are children with third-degree burns,
shrapnel wounds, brain injuries and broken bones,” James Elder, UNICEF’s
global spokesperson, told Al-Jazeera from Gaza.
“Mothers crying over children who look like they are hours away from death. It seems like a death zone right now.”
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has been dropping evacuation leaflets
across the south of Gaza in cities that include Khan Younis, Rafah, and
others neighborhoods where many had been told to flee by Israel prior to
the recent week-long pause.
The IDF is now using a wholly invented “grid system” to tell
Palestinians in Gaza which sectors might be safe and which ones will
not, leading to reports
of widespread confusion on the ground for those trying to keep
themselves and their families safe from the indiscriminate bombing
“What Israel is doing in Gaza right now is one of the most cruel
tactics of war I’ve ever seen,” said Rohan Talbot, director of advocacy
and campaigns for the U.K.-based Medical Aid Palestine, on Sunday. “This
grid system effectively means people are being chased from square to
square, in constant mortal fear. Bombing happens both inside and outside
‘unsafe’ areas. It’s terrorism.”
“And they say it’s about protecting civilians! People in Gaza are
saying they hope to die just to be free from the fear!” Talbot declared.
“I use the word terrorism in its specific sense: using violence to
intimidate civilians for political aims. Israeli leaders don’t hide that
this is what they are doing.”
Last week, it was reported
that the Israeli military is using artificial intelligence to help
generate bombing targets, a situation described as “dystopian” and the
“first AI-facilitated genocide in history.”
Horrifying scenes were evident across Gaza as witnesses shared
footage of children killed by the bombings along with the heartbreak and
cries of survivors:
In the north, the Jabilia refugee camp, the largest in the Gaza Strip, was bombed again on Saturday.
“More than 100 Palestinians were killed Saturday in a new massacre
committed by Israeli occupation forces in the Jabalia refugee camp in
the central Gaza Strip,” the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The agency said an Israeli missile hit a residential building
belonging to the “Obaid family in Jabalia camp” and that “dozens were
injured, and many others are still missing under the rubble,” in that
strike alone.
Meanwhile, Medicin Sans Frontier/MSF doctors reported their rescue
vehicles, despite being clearly marked, were targeted by Israeli tanks.
Jason Lee, the Palestine country director for Save the Children, who was in Rafah on Friday, told the Guardian
newspaper that what’s being witnessed is a fresh population transfer in
a country where 1.7 million people — out of an approximate total of 2.3
million — have already been displaced, with most now frantically trying
to find safety in the south.
“How is it possible for people to move again? For many, this is not
their first evacuation. The scale and scope of this is unprecedented,”
he said.
Jason Lee, the Palestine country director for Save the Children, who was in Rafah on Friday, told the Guardian
newspaper that what’s being witnessed is a fresh population transfer in
a country where 1.7 million people — out of an approximate total of 2.3
million — have already been displaced, with most now frantically trying
to find safety in the south.
“How is it possible for people to move again? For many, this is not
their first evacuation. The scale and scope of this is unprecedented,”
he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jon Queally is senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
