Gaza Before The Israeli Genocide

CROSSFIREARABIA – According to many pictures and images Gaza was a wonderful place prior to 7 October 2023. The above picture of Al Rasheed Street, the one we used to hear about endlessly on Al Jazeera. It doesn’t exist any more – all destroyed due to Israeli bombs and malice.

Despite the Israeli-imposed siege on the enclave since 2007, the Strip was a plush territory with modern institutions, schools, universities, hospitals and a developing economy despite the squeeze. There was a sense of sustenance, cordiality, community and camaraderie among its people but no more.

It had an urban culture with buildings, towers, villas, house and yes, shanty refugee camps occupied by a population of 2.2 million that lived in the 364 square-kilometer strip but no more. For the lives of the people had been turned upside down.

The familiar face of Gaza disappeared quickly, all gone since 7 October when the Israeli army began its mass destruction and slaughter. Towns, cities and villages were razed to the ground whilst turning its people en masse into displaced persons running from one place to another to seek safe shelter.

But in Gaza there is no safe place, the Israeli military is making sure of that. Their bombs and weapons of mass destruction have made sure that men, women, children, old and young keep moving to where, nobody knows.

Israel has dropped 82,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip according to the Government Media Office in Gaza City. This figure was for early August, 2024 and its is likely to be much higher now. The amount of wreckage and debris is colossal. The UN Environment Program has stated amounts to 40 million tons of rubble (figures for July) and it would take 15 years to clear.

One blogger points out the Israeli military – army, air force and navy because Gazans are being bombarded from all directions – has dropped 36 kilograms of explosives for every man, woman, and child in Gaza.  

This is a giant number that can’t be fathomed by the human mind.

The image (as provided by the UN Satellite Center, 6 July) shows that each red dot points to a bombed place in Gaza with the blogger adding this is what genocide looks like.

The huge explosives were dropped by Israeli warplanes, tanks and from the sea since the Jewish state started its war on the enclave after 7 October, 2023.

Israel’s war on Gaza is being facilitated by US support which has provided Tel Aviv with much of the weapons and mass bombs – some of these MK84 and weigh 2000 pounds per piece, other bombs weigh 1000 pounds and others still 500 pounds – for willful destruction of a thriving Palestinian society.

The Israeli Defense Ministry stated last August that the United States has provided Israel 50,000 tons of military equipment and hardware since it launched its onslaught on the Gaza Strip after 7th October, 2023. This enormous tonnage was delivered to Israel through 500 mega transport planes and 107 ships delivering hardware through sea.

Israel has destroyed 430,000 houses, 821 mosques, 3 churches, 206 historical sites, 25,000 kilometers of sewage networks and 700 water wells so far and the carnage continues.

Israel has killed more than 41,000 civilians and over 95,000 in Gaza, yet its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war must go on, while the Joe Biden administration take a backseat and continue to supply the weapons.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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“Third states have an obligation, per the ICJ, to act to end Israel’s unlawful occupation,” Albanese wrote on the US social media platform X, referring to a July 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that deemed Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory unlawful and said states must not assist in maintaining it.

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Gaza’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing confirmed that Israel’s ongoing targeting of tents and shelters of displaced people in the enclave is a systematic policy of destroying the basic necessities of life. It noted the amount of rubble that has piled up in the various regions of the Strip has exceeded 40 million tons.

Ministry spokesman Najla Hammad told the Sanad News Agency, Monday, the ministry is facing unprecedented challenges in removing the rubble because of the severe shortage of heavy machinery due to the Israeli-imposed blockade and the closure of crossings.

Hammad pointed out that the recent Israeli aggression has displaced more than 80 families, leaving them homeless and exposed, noting the ministry received widespread appeals to replace the tents that have been damaged and/or completely destroyed.

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She added what is making things worse is that the Israeli occupation is preventing the entry of tents, tarpaulins, and shelter supplies and the reduction of usable land in the Gaza Strip to less than 30%.

Hammad explained that crews are continuing to work on opening main roads and providing alternative spaces for service facilities and educational centers but tough going. However, she announced the completion of the removal of the rubble at the site of the Hijazi Clinic in northern Gaza, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and its handover to the Ministry of Health for reconstruction.

She indicated that the demolition and clearing of rubble is currently limited to only 4 out of the 10 sites previously identified, due to security restrictions and a lack of heavy equipment. The teams are operating with only one excavator and a very limited number of trucks.

Hammad noted the use of local alternatives and solutions, such as recycling crushed rubble to level roads and areas threatened by flooding, and melting plastic and aluminum to recycle supplies for health units in the camps is also moving.

UN reports confirm that the scale of destruction and rubble in the Gaza Strip surpasses that of major wars and conflicts in modern history. International organizations warn that preventing the entry of machinery, engineering equipment, and shelter materials exacerbates the humanitarian, environmental, and health catastrophe, hindering the provision of even the most basic services to more than two million displaced people lacking safe shelter.

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza previously warned in August of the severe deterioration in the housing sector due to the widespread presence of tons of rubble. It emphasized that the aid and tents permitted entry by the Israeli occupation amount to no more than 5% of the actual needs of the displaced, given the strict restrictions at the crossings and the repeated forced displacement.

Recently, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing launched an emergency program to repair and renovate partially damaged homes in the Gaza Strip, a step aimed at persuading and facilitating the return of displaced families to their homes and original areas.

Last June, Hammad, announced a comprehensive plan for managing, storing, and crushing rubble for reuse, as part of the ongoing efforts to address the issue of debris resulting from the conflict.

Hammad said that the Ministry is presently working with the UNDP and have to-date  constructed more than 15 shelters that have accommodated over 1,700 displaced families in the Gaza Strip, including five centers in the south that alone have housed approximately 700 families.

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