'Smell of death is everywhere' in northern Gaza as Israel intensifies attacks

All roads in the northern besieged coastal enclave have shrapnel from missiles fired by Israeli warplanes or artillery from Israeli tanks, striking homes of defenseless Palestinian civilians, while dozens of quadcopter drones fly in the skies and shoot at everything that moves.

Dozens of bodies are lying in the streets. Some of the corpses are being eaten by stray dogs because ambulances and civil defence crews are unable to reach them due to the Israeli army restrictions under the pretext that these sites are "dangerous combat zones."

For the second week in a row, the Israeli army continues its large-scale military attack in the northern Gaza Strip and in effect is unofficially implementing parts of the infamous "Generals' Plan" under the claim it is eliminating the Hamas military force that is trying to rebuild itself. 

Speaking to The New Arab, several Palestinians trapped in Jabalia and Beit Lahia towns described how the Israeli army is besieging tens of thousands of civilians inside their homes.

"We can hear the wounded people while asking us to help them, but we can't even save them. The army kills anyone who tries to help," a Palestinian man in Jabalia remarked to TNA. "The bodies of the dead are lying in the streets, while civil defence crews and ambulances cannot reach them."

"The residents of the northern Gaza Strip are living in conditions no one can imagine... everyone is besieged, hungry, and afraid, and no one knows their fate. If people remain in their homes, they are in danger of death, and if they decide to leave, the army will bomb them or kill them inevitably," another Palestinian man in Jabalia told TNA.

'The north is suffering'

So far, many civilians have refused Israeli orders to evacuate. But, under the pressure of continuous bombing and gunfire by the Israeli army, people are being forced to leave to the south.

The Israeli army decided two days ago to expand its military operation, claiming that he aimed at eliminating Hamas's military power, to include the town of Beit Lahia, adjacent to the Jabalia refugee camp.

However, the army targeted those displaced once they gathered at the Kamal Adwan Hospital, killing at least 15 Palestinians and wounding dozens, according to Palestinian medical sources.

"Israeli artillery targeted a number of displaced people at the Abu al-Jidyan junction in the Beit Lahia camp in the northern Gaza Strip while they were trying to evacuate their homes based on army orders," witnesses told TNA.

The sources, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons, added that "the Israeli army is demanding that residents evacuate immediately and then targets them."

Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of Gaza, told TNA, "The hospital is no longer able to receive any of the wounded due to the depletion of fuel, the scarcity of medical equipment, and the high number of victims."

"There are hundreds of wounded, most of them children and women, and we can no longer deal with them... Therefore, we are forced to work according to a system of preference, so we start treating the wounded who we hope will survive," he said.

"Dozens of wounded were left to bleed and die without receiving the necessary treatment," he added.

The Israeli army had previously issued evacuation orders to the three hospitals operating in the northern Gaza Strip because they [allegedly] are located in dangerous combat zones.

"The north is suffering greatly. If [the hospitals] are evacuated, this means that we are condemning tens of thousands of local residents to mass death," Abu Safiya said.

He called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop attacking hospitals and to establish a humanitarian corridor to deliver medical aid to the northern Gaza Strip.

'Judgment day'

With a trembling voice, Abeer from the town of Beit Lahia answered TNA's correspondent, said, "We are killing in cold blood... The Israeli army is executing the largest possible number of Palestinian civilians. He does not differentiate between women, children, and men."

"The Israeli army arrested dozens of men from the houses while we [women and children] were forced to flee on foot while they continued to shoot over our heads […] I saw a number of women dying in front of me and I don’t know what to do," she added.

Abeer described the situation in northern Gaza as akin to "the Day of Judgment".

"We are running away from death, but the army is besieging us in all directions, and we don’t know where to go. We are scared, hungry and besieged and no one is helping us," she lamented.

Asmaa, another woman based in Beit Lahia, is also in a dire situation. Two days ago, the Israeli army killed her two brothers when they targeted their house, which had been under siege for more than ten days.

Asmaa, who fled to Gaza City on foot, told TNA, "We saw my brothers bleeding, and no one was able to help them."

 "Two days after they were killed, the Israeli army stormed the house and forced us to flee to Gaza City," she said.

"On our way to Gaza, I saw dozens of corpses [some of them decomposed] and wounded who were asking us to save them. At that moment, I wished if I was killed instead of witnessing such scenes," she added.