Afrasianet - Gaza - Before the war, the time a car travelled between the cities of Deir al-Balah (central Gaza Strip) andKhan Yunis  (south) did not exceed more than a quarter of an hour. But now, it could reach a full 3 hours, due to the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of displaced people along Rashid Street, in an area that Israel claims is "humanitarian."

The features of the street connecting the north and south of the Gaza Strip disappeared, and it turned from a highway surrounded on its eastern side by agricultural land, and from the west by the Mediterranean coast, to a slum area after it was filled with tents, and overshadowed by vendors and shoppers, and barely a few meters remained for the passage of cars.

Over the past two weeks, the concern of displaced people in the area has increased as Israel narrows its area to only about 35 kilometers from 230 kilometers during the first month of the war.
 
How many residents of the Gaza Strip and where are they located?

Since the beginning of August, the Israeli army has issued 15 expulsion orders – what it calls "evacuation" – inside the Gaza Strip, at a rate of one evacuation every two days, which led to the reduction of the area in question. The majority of the evacuations involved areas inside Khan Younis, and the eastern and southern neighborhoods of Deir al-Balah.

Matar al-Zaq, who is displaced from Gaza City and currently lives in a tent west of Deir al-Balah, says the recent eviction orders make him and his family feel "very scared" and they fear that Israel will soon force them to flee. He adds to Al Jazeera Net, "We feel that the danger is approaching, now targeting the east of the city, and tomorrow they will target the west, do not know where we will go?".

The population of the Gaza Strip, as of August 18, is two million and 440 thousand people, according to data obtained by Al Jazeera Net from a government source. Because of the occupation's horrific crimes during the war, about 90 percent of them have been "displaced," according to a tweet posted by  the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the X platform last Thursday.

According to the government source in Gaza, who spoke to Al Jazeera Net, the population is currently distributed as follows:

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•    300,000 people in the northern Gaza Strip governorate.
•    300,000 people in Gaza City governorate.
•    One million people in the central governorate of the Gaza Strip.
•    750,000 people in Khan Yunis province.
•    50,000 people in Rafah (north and northwest of the city).

What is the story of the "humanitarian" region?

•    On October 13, 2023, a week after the war began, Israel ordered all residents of northern Wadi Gaza to flee to the south of Wadi Gaza, which includes the central and southern governorates.
•    Wanting to encourage residents to flee, Israel declared the southern Gaza Strip, 230 kilometers (out of 360 kilometers in the Strip), a "safe zone."
•    On October 18, 2023, the occupation announced the allocation of a mini-"safe" area in  the Mawasi area , west of the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah.
•    After the occupation invaded Khan Yunis governorate in early December 2023, the safe zone (south of Wadi Gaza) shrank to 140 kilometers.
•    The safe zone was reduced again last May when the occupation army invaded Rafah governorate to 79 kilometers.
•    Last May, after the decision to invade Rafah, the occupation decided to expand the coastal safe zone (Al-Mawasi) to include the western neighborhoods of Deir al-Balah.
•    Last June and July, the occupation reduced the area to 60 kilometers and then 48 kilometers, respectively.
•    During this August, the occupation reduced the area to 35 kilometers, equivalent to 9.5% of the total area of the Strip, according to a statement by the Civil Defense in Gaza, issued last Friday.

Where is the "humanitarian" zone located?

The area claimed by the occupation to be "humanitarian" is located in the following places:
•    The majority of the western neighborhoods of Deir al-Balah.
•    A number of western neighborhoods of Khan Yunis.
•    Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis area (Israel has removed Mawasi Rafah since last May).
•     Where are the IDPs now?

Mohammed al-Mughayir, director of the Supply and Equipment Department of the Civil Defense, said that the largest number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip is crowded in the Mawasi Khan Yunis area on the seashore "west of the city."

According to al-Mughayir, "congestion" continues on the seashore in the north until it reaches the desalination plant inside the city of al-Balah (center). He confirms – for Al Jazeera Net – that the evacuation orders issued by the occupation, this month, greatly affected the map of the presence of the displaced.

He added that hundreds of thousands headed west on the seashore in the area extending from the area of the Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan mosque (north of Rafah) to the desalination plant in the city of Deir al-Balah.

Does it meet the criteria of "humanity"?

Al-Mughayyir refuses to label the area designated by Israel as "humanitarian." He explains that according to international laws, there are 4 criteria that must be met in the humanitarian zone, namely:

•    Health services.
•    Food security.
•    Water.
•    Human settlements and spaces needed by citizens.

and "All are not available."

Despite the occupation's claim that the area is "safe and humane", the Civil Defense confirms that it receives reports of Israeli attacks on a permanent basis. The latest of these was last Thursday, when the "Qadisiya" area in Mawasi Khan Yunis was subjected to 3 attacks, although it is very crowded with displaced people. "The occupation does not differentiate between one area that claims to be humanitarian and another, as it targets everything that is Palestinian everywhere," the official added.

What is the safest area?

Asked which area could be classified as the safest in the Gaza Strip, al-Mughayyir replied, "There is no safe area at the moment." He says that even the seashore, which citizens believe is safer because it is far from the land border, is under fire directly and continuously by Israeli boats and helicopters.

What are Israel's goals in the ongoing harassment of the displaced?

Gaza-based writer and political analyst Wissam Afifa points out that Israel is using displacement areas as a tool for collective punishment and to pressure Palestinian resistance.

He adds to Al Jazeera Net, "The displaced in these areas have become considered human shields, used to pressure the resistance to make political concessions in the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire, and to reshape the Gaza Strip demographically and politically to achieve the security of the occupation."

In the same context, the head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Rami Abdo, believes that the narrowing of the (humanitarian) area and the exhaustion and abuse of the displaced indicate that Israel is trying to consolidate its occupation of the Gaza Strip. He told Al Jazeera Net, "This is evidence of the occupation's quest to destroy the entire Strip and execute any chances of life in it, whether now or in the future."

Source : Al Jazeera