War on Gaza: Battered Shujaiya comes under fresh Israeli assault
Israeli air strikes and artillery heavily bombed Gaza’s Shujaiya neighbourhood on Thursday amid a fresh ground assault on the war-ravaged residential area.
At least seven Palestinians were killed and 40 wounded, including children, women and the elderly, according to initial estimates.
Some civilians were struck while taking shelter at a UN school, and others while fleeing the neighbourhood after the bombing began, Al Jazeera reported.
"They bombed the neighbourhood so heavily, and the house was shaking as if it was an earthquake," said Rajab Rifi, a father of two from the neighbourhood.
"People were running in the street and screaming. I carried my two children and ran out with my family in seconds without taking any of our belongings," he told MEE.
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The surprise attack forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and shelters as air strikes pummeled the densely populated area, according to the Palestinian civil defence.
First responders have not been able to reach the affected areas due to the heavy bombardment.
Nouh al-Sharnoubi, a civil defence member and Shujaiya resident, told MEE the situation is "really difficult", with constant carpet bombing and shelling all around.
"I haven't witnessed something this intense since the peak of the Israeli aggression at the start of the war," al-Sharnoubi added. "Everyone in Shujaiya has left it."
BREAKING| Brutal Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling on Al Shijaiya neighbourhood, killing and injuring several citizens and forcing hundreds of families to evacuate. pic.twitter.com/Q9tPmOP80E
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 27, 2024
Akram al-Mamlok, an eyewitness, said the "deafening" shelling and air strikes came without a warning.
"Dozens of people were injured and killed in front of my eyes," the 30-year-old told MEE.
"We are walking now without knowing where to go. Many of my cousins are missing, and no one dares to look for them in the area where the tanks and drones shoot everyone indiscriminately."
'They already destroyed our area before. There is nothing left to destroy now'
- Rajab Rifi, Shujaiya resident
According to local media, Israeli ground forces were seen advancing into the neighbourhood, which is located east of Gaza, just hundreds of metres away from the fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military issued displacement orders to citizens of Shujaiya hours after the bombing began, instructing them to move south. No further details were provided.
Israeli forces have previously killed and detained many people who complied with military orders and fled through "safe corridors" to so-called "humanitarian zones".
Clashes were later reported in Shujaiya as the Israeli tanks advanced into the eastern parts of the neighbourhood.
'They already destroyed our area'
Shujaiya, home to around 100,000 people before the current Israeli war on Gaza, was pounded at the start of bombing campaign in October.
The six sq-km neighbourhood has become one of the most devastated areas across the Palestinian enclave from the months-long Israeli attacks, which have left most homes flattened with only a few buildings still standing.
Northern Gaza was heavily bombed and invaded by Israeli forces between October and December last year before troops pulled out from most areas and moved to southern Gaza.
"They already destroyed our area before. There is nothing left to destroy now," said Rifi.
"My family and I have been displaced seven times. Where is the world to stop this madness? We are being killed."
However, the military since January has carried out extensive and deadly weeks-long raids on specific areas in northern Gaza, often leaving widespread destruction in its wake.
A devastating raid in March on western Gaza left the al-Shifa hospital in ruins, with several departments bombed and torched and hundreds of people killed and wounded. Three mass graves were discovered in the courtyards of the hospital after the raid.
In May, a similar raid targeted the Jabalia refugee camp, which left it a "disaster area" that is no longer fit for human habitation, according to relief workers.
The attack on Shujaiya comes as northern Gaza suffers a starvation crisis caused by an Israeli siege that has blocked the entry of life-saving food and medical items for nearly two months.
A Palestinian girl died of malnutrition late on Wednesday in northern Gaza, making her the sixth child to die from starvation in just over a week.
The Israeli war on Gaza, now nearing its ninth month, has killed more than 37,700 Palestinians and wounded over 86,000, most of whom are children and women.
An estimated 10,000 more are missing and believed to be dead, buried under rubble.
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