‘We are being annihilated’: Palestinians in Gaza’s Jabalia plead for help on social media

Hundreds of Palestinians trapped by Israeli forces in north Gaza under heavy bombardment and artillery fire are making urgent calls for help on social media, as Israeli forces ramp up their ground invasion, which is now in its ninth day.

Many of those making the urgent pleas for help on social media said they were being "annihilated" and "exterminated", pointing out that Israeli forces are bombing people and forbidding anyone from entering or exiting north Gaza.

With water, food and other vital resources running out, and hospitals shut down and no ambulances left working, residents have called for urgent action.

A Palestinian activist, Ahmed Hijazi, posted a video on social media platform X where he described "dozens of corpses and martyrs in the streets" adding that there were "no ambulances or hospitals because everyone is under siege" he said.

He said that people in the north are unable to withstand the ongoing bombings and are being subjected to ethnic cleansing. In his video, he called on other social media users to raise awareness of what is happening in Gaza.

Ahmed Hijazee[@ahmedhijazee]: What is happening in North Gaza right now is likely one of the worst events in recorded history.

NORTH GAZA IS BEING EXTERMINATED. pic.twitter.com/Byc7LVlmoN

— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) October 13, 2024

Other social media users in north Gaza have been using the hashtag ‘Jabalia is being annihilated’ in Arabic to raise awareness on the situation there.

"Body parts with no graves, wounded people with no hospitals, starving people with no food," one social media post read.

"This, I swear, is a war on Jabalia alone, completely different from the war on the rest of Gaza. It is full revenge on Jabalia and its residents who were against being forcibly displaced. This time in particular, they no longer want us to leave or go to the south, the only goal is to kill us, and that alone will satisfy their wrath," another person wrote, referencing Israeli forces forbidding anyone from entering or leaving north Gaza.

Others called for urgent action from Arab states and the international community to help put an end to the Israeli attacks in the north.

"I find no explanation for the silence of the Arab and Islamic world, and the absence of Islamic leaders who have the ability to mobilise and expert pressure, such as Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Egypt. Of course, there are many movements that sympathise with the Palestinian cause and are against Zionism, but their influence on the streets remains weak," one person commented.

"Jabalia is straight out of a horror movie with it being completely surrounded with quadcopters shooting at people, war jets hovering above, bombs still ongoing, tank shelling. The small town and refugee camp of 1.4 km sq. is being obliterated. The infrastructure is destroyed completely, and people are being wiped out. Israel has been heavily targeting Jabalia in the last two weeks with the intention of wiping it out," journalist Mariam Barghouti wrote on X.

A spokesperson for Gaza’s government media office, Ismail Al-Thawbata, said on Sunday that the "Israeli occupation is committing massacres in the northern governorates, where more than 300 people have been martyred in nine days during a ground attack and the ongoing genocide".

He also noted that Israel is trying to continue forcibly displacing Palestinians in northern Gaza, describing it is as the "largest and most dangerous American-Israeli plan in the 21st century".

Many civilians have also been trapped under the rubble as Israel continues its bombardment and ground offensive on north Gaza.

The UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory denounced the attacks on the north as "another massacre".

Francesca Albanese said Palestinians in Jabalia "are killed – both in groups and one by one – amid unspeakable cruelty and sadism" by Israeli troops “who have accepted to be ‘willing executioners’ of a genocidal plan".

While the main assault is on the north, Israel is also striking other areas across the Gaza Strip. The health ministry reported at least 11 people killed by late morning on Sunday, including at least six killed in a house in Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip, south of Gaza City.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in Gaza. They have also voiced concerns over severe shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies in northern Gaza, and said there is a risk of famine there.

Seven World Health Organisation (WHO) missions have also been blocked by Israel from reaching the north in recent days, the UN said.

 The World Food Programme, the UN food agency, reported that no food aid has reached northern Gaza since 1 October.

Meanwhile, Israel has continued its bombardment of the rest of Gaza and on Lebanon, with the death toll mounting daily.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 42,227 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded over 98,464 others in the same time frame. The war has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis.