Hamas accuses Israel of shrinking ‘humanitarian zone’

The Hamas-controlled Gaza government on Wednesday accused Israel of shrinking the Mawasi coastal “humanitarian zone” – designated by the army as a safe haven for civilians – from 230 square kilometres in November to just 36 square kilometres in August, despite the fact that it is home to nearly two million people.

“The Israeli occupation army is intentionally strangling 1.7 million Palestinian civilians and crowding them into a narrow area no larger than a tenth of the size of the Gaza Strip,” denounced a statement issued by the Palestinian enclave’s government media office.

In their text, the Gazan authorities recalled that in November last year, Israel established the southern region of the Strip (which included the town of Rafah) as a “safe humanitarian space” with an area of ​​230 square kilometerswhich was equivalent to 63% of the total surface area of ​​the enclave.

A month later, with the first Israeli offensive against the southern city of Khan Yunis, the “safe area” was reduced to 140 square kilometers.

In May, the Israeli forces assaulted the town of Rafah on the border with Egypt, which is still ongoing after more than three months. The “humanitarian zone” was then reduced to about 79 square kilometres, which represented barely 20% of the entire enclave.

Since summer began, the Troops have not only returned to areas they had previously abandoned, such as Khan Yunis, but have also assaulted other points.such as the town of Deir Al Balah, in the centre of the Strip, an important reception point for displaced persons and the centre of operations for numerous humanitarian organisations.

The raids and evacuation orders have reduced the “safe zone” (where there are intermittent Israeli attacks anyway) to the current 36 square kilometres, or 9.5% of the total surface area of ​​the Gaza Strip.

In the rest of the enclave, which includes the governorates of Gaza City and North Gaza, there are no “humanitarian zones” equivalent to the one in the south of the territory, Even though there are still 700,000 Palestinians livingaccording to Hamas.

Until August, the town of Deir al-Balah had not been the target of a large-scale ground offensive like those suffered by other major cities in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel has justified the new incursions by claiming that Hamas was regrouping at these points and firing rockets into Israeli territory.