For nine days, Fatima Abu Khammash searched for her missing son across Gaza’s Israeli-controlled zone. When they refused to hand over his body, she crossed the line herself, finding a mother’s uneasy peace in what she carried back.
Israeli soldiers shot three-year-old Rayyan Abu al-Ajeen in his father’s arms and mocked his father’s pleas as he cried for his dying son. The father says they were in the part of Gaza designated as “safe” for civilians during the “ceasefire.”
Israeli forces have pushed past the “Yellow Line” that divides the Gaza Strip in half and now control 65% of the territory. Residents call the new border Gaza’s “apartheid wall.”
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir’s statement that the “Yellow Line” dividing Gaza will be Israel’s new border shows that Israel’s plan in Gaza follows its history of redrawing its borders through ethnic cleansing and land grabs.
Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir says Israel views the “Yellow Line” dividing Gaza as its new border. Palestinians in Gaza report widespread demolitions east of the line, reshaping Gaza’s landscape through force in what they call a “second Nakba.”
On Wednesday, Israel killed 33 Palestinians, including 12 children, in its latest violations of the Gaza ceasefire. Those killed include Palestinian families trying to return home and others caught in Israeli attempts to assassinate Hamas leaders.
As part of the ceasefire, Gaza has been split in half by the so-called ‘yellow line,’ where Israel’s military controls just over 50% of the Strip. Palestinians are being killed for trying to cross or even get close to the line.