‘Safe Zone’ Al-Mawasi Bombed, Leaving Dozens Killed

The aftermath of the airstrike on the Al-Mawasi displacement camp on September 10th. Credit: UN Photo/UNIFEED

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 12 2024 (IPS)

On Tuesday, an airstrike was carried out in Al-Mawasi, on a displacement camp situated on the Gaza Strip. According to the Gaza Civil Defense Agency, 40 people were killed and over 60 were injured. Despite being designated as a “safe zone” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), this region has seen continual airstrikes and armed hostility since December 2023.

Prior to the eruption of hostilities in Gaza, Al-Mawasi was home to about 9,000 Palestinians. It was known as the “Basket of Food” due to its highly fertile conditions for agriculture. The region is relatively small, stretching for about 14 kilometers.

Late last year, Israeli authorities declared the Al-Mawasi settlement will be exempt from attacks during Israel’s occupation of Gaza. Thousands of displaced Palestinians flocked to this region, only to find that the camps were bereft of critical resources, such as food, water, healthcare, and sanitation.

“The use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas is unconscionable. Palestinians had moved to this area in Khan Younis in search of shelter and search of safety, after being repeatedly instructed to do so by the Israeli authorities,”  stated Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, at a United Nations (UN) press briefing on Tuesday.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) estimates that over 1 million people are sheltering in this small region. The IDF claims that Al-Mawasi was the target for this recent bombing due to reports of the terrorist organization, Hamas, being situated in the settlements, stating that they “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command-and-control center embedded inside the humanitarian area.”. Hamas denied these claims.

The IDF adds that only Hamas members were targeted in this recent airstrike and that they tried to mitigate harm inflicted on civilians by using “precise munitions.” They did not confirm or deny if civilians in the area were warned prior to the bombing.

However, the scale of the bombs used in this attack corresponds more accurately with previous indiscriminate attacks on displacement camps. Patrick Senft, a research coordinator at Armament Research Services (ARES), said, “The significant damage and the size of the craters align with the expected effects of aerial bombs weighing several hundred kilograms.”

“In an overcrowded camp where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are scattered in makeshift tents, even the smallest bomb can cause immense damage and numerous casualties. Now, imagine the devastation when the Israeli occupation army uses 3 U.S.-made MK-84 bombs on them,” stated Maha Hussaini, strategy director at the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, in a post shared on X.

The explosions created three significant craters in the displacement camp, trapping several Palestinians under the debris. Gaza’s Health Ministry states, “A number of victims are still under the rubble, under the sand, and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them and retrieve them, and they have not reached hospitals yet.”

The airstrikes on Tuesday have been one of the deadliest attacks that have taken place in Al-Mawasi since the beginning of the war last year. Despite prior notions that Al-Mawasi was exempt from hostilities, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated that no place is safe in Gaza. A ceasefire agreement is imperative in preventing further loss.

Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, informed reporters that “international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, must be upheld at all times.”

IPS UN Bureau Report