Fearing for their lives amid continuous bombardments by Israel killing nearly 800 Palestinians so far, a Kashmiri woman living in Gaza with her family has sought an immediate evacuation from the war-torn city to save themselves from occupational crimes committed by Israel.
“We are facing a brutal war here and everything is being destroyed and bombarded in a matter of seconds. We are paying the price of this conflict as civilians are being targeted,” the trapped woman told PTI over the phone.
The backdrop to these actions is the conflict between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian soldiers from Hamas group.
Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Saturday, launching a barrage of rockets in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and escalating settler violence. In retaliation, the Israeli army initiated Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
As a result of the conflict, the Gaza-based Health Ministry reported that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza had reached around 800, including 143 children and 105 women.
The number of wounded individuals had risen to around 4,000. On the Israeli side, the Israeli Health Ministry reported that at least 900 Israelis had been killed, and over 2,600 others had been wounded in the fighting.
In the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, numerous reports and international organizations have accused Israeli forces of committing alleged war crimes and violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.
These accusations include claims of indiscriminate attacks that have resulted in civilian casualties, the use of excessive force against protesters, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Concerns have been raised about the impact of these actions on Palestinian civilians, particularly in Gaza, where high civilian casualties have occurred during military operations.
These brutal actions have sparked international condemnation and calls for investigations into possible violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
“The sounds of bombardment are too scary and the whole house shakes. It is a very, very scary situation,” Lubna was quoted as saying.
The woman, who is living with her husband in Gaza, said the “water supply was officially cut off” in addition to electricity.
Internet connection in Gaza is also poor and only those with their limited net packs are able to establish contact with people outside. Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, on Monday ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip.
“I have given an order – Gaza will be under complete siege. There will be no electricity, food or fuel delivered to Gaza,” Gallant said.
The Kashmiri woman said that she hadn’t seen anything like this before and currently has two families living with them who had to run away after bombardment in the bordering areas of Gaza.
“We are not able to go anywhere because there is no safe place for us anywhere and the Gaza Strip is too small and it is closed from every side. There are no exit points over here,” she told the news agency.
“I have already asked for help from the Representative office of India in Ramallah to help me get to a safer place along with my husband and my daughter,” she said in a video message sent to PTI.
The only exit route from Gaza, the Rafah crossing with Egypt, was shut down on Monday practically closing all possibilities of escape for Gaza residents.
