As Palestinians return to the rubble of their homes, the effects of the genocide are being felt amid heightened social unrest. “This war broke us,” one returnee to Gaza City told Mondoweiss. “It damaged our souls. We need decades to heal.”
With at least half a million people still left in Gaza City, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a “final warning” for residents to evacuate, saying those who remain will soon be regarded as “terrorists or terrorist supporters.”
As the Israeli invasion of Gaza City advances, al-Shifa Hospital is facing severe shortages of essential medical supplies, leaving patients untreated and vulnerable. Staff and patients fear an imminent Israeli attack.
As the Israeli army’s ground invasion advances into major residential areas in Gaza City, some residents say they’re not moving. “There’s no point in struggling to find a better place in hell,” one resident said.
After leveling Gaza City’s eastern neighborhoods, the Israeli onslaught has entered a new phase as the army flattens high-rise towers in the city’s western areas, where most civilians are sheltering. The goal is to cause a mass exodus.
The Israeli army is using airstrikes, rigged explosive APCs, and bulldozing operations to level neighborhoods and displacement centers in Gaza City. Eyewitnesses and local officials say it is to cause mass flight and prevent residents from returning.
Despite the Israeli army’s announcements that it plans to occupy Gaza City in October, the first stage of the invasion has already begun. It is starting with the flattening of the Zaytoun neighborhood, including the Old City of Gaza.
As the Israeli army confirms plans to invade Gaza City and occupy it, Palestinians have to decide whether to endure another cycle of displacement or stay and risk being killed. While some plan to evacuate, others are done following orders.
The neighborhood of Shuja’iyya was once home to 120,000 people. It has now been erased.
Israel’s latest plan to occupy Gaza City reveals that the assault on Gaza is more than just a war over territory. It is a war to extend, suspend, and dictate the tempo of killing and destruction – to exhaust Gaza into submission.