Israel aims to deport Palestinians to Egypt: Gazan journalist

By Sule Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israel aims to deport Palestinians to Egypt after trapping them in the southern region, according to a Gazan journalist on Wednesday.

"Many people went from north to south in the hope of finding a safe area, but in recent days we have seen that there is no safe place. Civilians have been targeted and massacres have been carried out there too,” Huda Naim told Anadolu.

They are trying to move the 2.3 million people in a very small area, first from north to south, then from southeast to southwest “like puppets,” Naim added.

Although the people trapped in southern Gaza were worried, she said they hold tightly to their land because “they know very well what would happen if they leave Gaza.”

“This will be irreversible, just like the Nakba in 1948. The Nakba can't happen again. Millions of Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave their lands in 1948 cannot return to their lands. This tragedy that Palestinians have experienced for 75 years cannot happen again," she added.

Nakba was a mass displacement of Palestinians from what is now Israel during the 1948 war.

Stressing that the UN schools in Gaza were full and could no longer accept more people, she said the people who were attacked by Israel in winter had to struggle with hunger, diseases, and epidemics.

Gaza was one of the most densely populated cities in the world before the attacks that started on Oct. 7, she said, adding: “It is mentally unacceptable for 80 people to live in a 100-square-meter house. There is no water, no electricity, no gas, nothing.”

Despite all these difficulties, Palestinians are trying to be patient and endure the Israeli occupation, she said.

She said there is a lack of team and medical equipment, especially doctors, in Gaza, adding that operations to treat wounds cannot be performed.

As Israel is trying to brand the Palestinians as "human animals", she said these people are not just numbers, everyone in Gaza has a unique story.

“We are all made of flesh, bones, ambitions, and dreams. A person in Gaza deserves to live and have a good life and own his own land like a person in the US," she said.

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege, and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed and 50,594 injured in the Israeli onslaught since then, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

The official Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, while around 139 hostages remain in captivity, according to official figures.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar