Palestinians fear Israel's attack on Lebanon will hide its massacres in Gaza

Palestinians in Gaza are extremely afraid that as the world focuses on Israel's intensified attacks on Lebanon, more massacres by Israel will occur in the besieged coastal enclave. 

On Monday, the Israeli army conducted a series of indiscriminate attacks across the southern and eastern regions in Lebanon, killing more than 500 people and injuring hundreds others, in what was the largest amount of death not witnessed in Lebanon for decades. Hezbollah's fighters responded to these attacks with an intensive barrages of missiles, some of which reached deeper into central Israel.

At the moment, over 620 Lebanese, including women and children, journalists, UNHCR staff and medical personnel, have been killed by the Israeli attacks and more than 2,000 others have been wounded, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. 

With the widespread aerial bombardment, the Israeli army is also reportedly moving ground forces, including tanks and military vehicles, from the Gaza Strip to the northern border.

Samir al-Saady, a 60-year-old father of three who experienced multiple displacement, expressed his fears that the Israeli attack on Lebanon will further the lack of international interest in stopping Israel's devastating, almost-year-long war. 

"I am so sorry for our brothers and sisters in Lebanon. It seems that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to commit more massacres in Lebanon and Gaza," the elderly man remarked to The New Arab. "I am afraid that the latest events in Lebanon have overshadowed the dire living conditions in Gaza and the efforts to negotiate a ceasefire."

"The events in the Gaza Strip have become a secondary issue for the various media outlets," he added. "We have been completely forgotten [...] There is no news about us in the media or about the ceasefire negotiations." 

Eternal displacement

For his part, Anan al-Jarousha, another displaced Palestinian, said, "We are terrified that our misery will become permanent and that they will not be able to return to their homes again as the war approaches its first year."

"We look forward to returning our houses once Hamas reaches a ceasefire deal with Israel. Now, I doubt that would happen soon," the 46-year-old father of seven said.

Palestinian and international organisations warn that 90 per cent of Gaza's population is currently homeless due to their forcibly displacement and destruction of their homes by Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in unsanitary camps, struggling to find food and clean water.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement that many families are seeking shelter in UNRWA's overcrowded schools, some of which have been repeatedly bombed, and stressing that there is no safe place in Gaza with living conditions getting worse.

Shireen Ahmed, a displaced Palestinian woman from al-Nuseirat refugee camp, said that she was also looking forward to returning to Gaza City, even if her house was destroyed. 

"As long as Israel attacks Lebanon, it will never allow us to back our homes and areas. We will stay displaced homeless people for a long time," the woman said. 

"We hope that the world will end the war in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon [...] What sin did Palestinian and Lebanese children commit, so it's okay they are killed by American bombs by Israel?" Dalal al-Haj Ali, a displaced woman based in Deir al-Balah, said bitterly. 

Negative impact on Hamas-Israel negotiations

With the outbreak of military escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, the Israeli army is reportedly reducing its military presence in Gaza and is transferring key units to its northern border with Lebanon.

Despite this, thousands of Israeli soldiers are still deployed on the eastern edges of Gaza and the main axis in the centre of the strip, thereby preventing the displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes. Additionally, Israeli aircraft and artillery are carrying out continuous attacks across all of Gaza.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar are presently leading mediation between Israel and Hamas to achieve a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is adamant about maintaining Israeli forces in the Philadelphi corridor, despite Egypt and Hamas's rejection.

"Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict the fate of the negotiations between Hamas and Israel in light of the Israeli military escalation in Lebanon that may continue for a long period," according to Abdul Majeed Suwailem, the Ramallah-based Palestinian political expert. 

"Anyone following Netanyahu's behaviour in the negotiation process realizes that he wants to gain more time, to keep the war on Gaza going, and to achieve his hopes for Trump's arrival in the White House next January, based on Netanyahu's belief that this will give him the opportunity to achieve what is called 'absolute victory'," Suwailem added to TNA. 

Suwailem opined that Netanyahu is working to expand the scope of the war from Gaza to Lebanon to be able to thwart any comprehensive deal with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and prevent the resistance factions from achieving any victory on the ground.

On his part, Hussam al-Dajani, a Palestinian political expert based in Gaza, thinks that the Israel's attack on Lebanon will wreck the negotiations with Gaza.

However, Al-Dajani argued, "The repercussions of the comprehensive war may be positive for the Gaza Strip, especially in light of Hezbollah's insistence on stopping the war in Gaza as part of any ceasefire agreement with Israel."