So-called 'safe zones' in Gaza turned into ‘death corridors’

By Zeynep Tufekci Gulay

ISTANBUL (AA) - Thousands of civilians, including children, women, elderly and disabled people, who were forced to migrate to the south of the Gaza Strip, ended up on roads that Israel defines as “security corridors.”

These roads, which Israel pushed civilians to with the claim of “humanitarian corridors,” turned into “death corridors" for Gazans.

The “safe corridors” opened by Israel, which rained bombs on civilians migrating from north to south, were filled with lifeless bodies and decomposed body parts.

Almost all of the 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been displaced repeatedly over a nearly year of war.

According to local health authorities, nearly 41,780 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 96,800 others injured during Israel's continued offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7.

In its second article on One Year of Israel's Genocide in Gaza, Anadolu compiled information on the massacres committed by Israel since Oct. 7 in the so-called safe areas in the Gaza Strip.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army has used forced displacement as a weapon against the Palestinians through evacuation orders.

Israel has repeatedly asked Gazans to evacuate their homes by sharing a new map and dropping leaflets from the air.

Following the Israeli authorities' evacuation orders, displacement journeys began in many parts of Gaza from north to south.

Hospitals, schools and camps, which have been turned into shelters for displaced families, have been repeatedly targeted by Israeli bombardment, artillery shelling and direct fire from soldiers, despite being located in areas declared “safe.”

According to UN data, nine out of every 10 people living in Gaza have been displaced by Israeli attacks since Oct. 7. According to the same data, the majority of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced at least once a month.

Thus, the Palestinians suffered their second “Nakba."

Palestinians use the word "Nakba" in reference to the events of 1948, when armed Zionist militias forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes and villages under the pressure of bombing and mass massacres in the historical lands of Palestine, pushing them further into the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and neighboring countries, in a major ethnic cleansing move prior to the announcement of the independence of Israel.

- Call for those in north to 'move south for safety'

The Israeli army gave more than a million people in the northern Gaza Strip a 24-hour deadline to leave their homes and move to the south of the Gaza Valley, where it launched a full-scale invasion on Oct. 27, 2023.

On the same date, Israeli authorities told residents of Gaza City that “for the safety of yourselves and your families, move to the south”.

Thousands of Palestinians living in the north, which has been under heavy Israeli airstrikes and ground occupation, have been forced to flee to Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in southern and central Gaza in search of a safe haven.

However, the Israeli army bombed the civilians it forcibly displaced in what it called “humanitarian safe zones."

- Rafah, Khan Younis occupied

The Israeli army, which is also at the gates of the southern city of Rafah, where Palestinians fleeing the bombardment in the north of Gaza took refuge, dropped leaflets in the east of the city, asking residents to evacuate their homes and move to the west of the city.

The Israeli army, which declared that it would carry out a military operation in the city, invaded Rafah, which it had previously declared as a “safe zone” and where approximately 1.5 million Palestinians took refuge, on May 7.

The Israeli army, which targeted the displaced Palestinians, rained missiles and bombs on civilians in Rafah and carried out many massacres.

On May 26, the Israeli army shelled the tents of displaced Palestinians in Rafah. At least 45 Palestinians, including 23 women, children and the elderly, were killed and 249 Palestinians were injured in the attack and the fires that broke out.

- Call to go to Mevasi 'safe zone'

Israel forced displaced civilians who took refuge in Rafah after its ground offensive on May 6 to move to al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis. Thousands of displaced Palestinians who took refuge in Rafah moved their tents to Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

In July, the Israeli army launched intensive attacks on the eastern areas of Khan Younis, which it declared a so-called “safe zone.”

A statement made by the government in Gaza on July 24 reported that 129 people were killed, 416 people were injured and 44 people were missing in the attacks east of Khan Younis for three consecutive days.

In July, the Israeli army intensified its attacks on eastern Khan Younis and forced the evacuation of Palestinians there. This time, Israel declared Mevasi, located in the west of the city, a “safe zone” and drove civilians there.

Palestinians who took refuge in Mevasi, a beach area with no infrastructure and very little construction, tried to hold on to life in the tents they set up.

According to UN figures, there are 30,000 people per square kilometer in Mawasi, where some 1.7 million Palestinians have sought refuge from Israeli attacks.

According to official records, 45 people were killed on May 26, 25 people on June 22, 90 on July 13, 17 on July 16, and 40 on Sept. 10, and a total of 635 people were injured in attacks by Israel in al-Mawasi.

Israeli authorities continued to issue evacuation orders for some areas of al-Mawasi, where there is hardly a single tent space left due to the ongoing influx of refugees to the area.

- Israeli army attacked east of Deir al-Balah, another ‘humanitarian zone’

Thousands of Palestinians living in various parts of the Gaza Strip have made their way to the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah, following the Israeli army's bombardment of their areas of refuge and warnings to evacuate.

In August, the Israeli army announced that it would launch an offensive east of Deir al-Balah, which it had previously declared a “humanitarian zone,” and asked Palestinians there to flee to the west.

The Israeli army also launched several attacks on Deir al-Balah, killing many civilians in an attack targeting a marketplace.

On July, 31 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured when Israel bombed a field hospital in Haditha School, a refuge for displaced civilians, also within the safe zone.

- UN says Gaza has nowhere to go

The UN Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) announced in August that there is nowhere safe for Palestinians to seek refuge in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA also reported that even the so-called “humanitarian zones” that Israel says are safe only account for 11% of Gaza.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel