In Gaza, the future erased
On January 20, Mohammed Al-Najjar returned to his home in Rafah, at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip. The 24-year-old lawyer, displaced by Israeli bombings to Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, took advantage of the truce that began the previous day to visit his family home with his brother. There, they found that the six-story building had been reduced to a pile of rubble, twisted metal, shattered furniture and shards of plastic.
Mohammed, who is blind, described the scene over the phone as his brother narrated what he saw, calling from the top floor of a building in Deir Al-Balah where he found an internet signal. Israeli authorities continue to bar foreign journalists from entering the Palestinian territory. The conversation was punctuated by the crackle of automatic weapons, very close by. "In our neighborhood, only one building was still standing: a burned-out shell where no one can live," Mohammed said. "We couldn't find our bearings, where our street was, the houses. There was nothing left."
The same could be said for nearly all of Rafah. The city, which had some 250,000 residents before October 7, 2023, has been pummeled relentlessly. According to an analysis by Le Monde 's video team using satellite imagery, 68% of its buildings have been leveled. The structures that escaped the barrage of bombs and missiles dropped on the city over the past 19 months have been destroyed by bulldozers, block by block. The few buildings still standing are gutted.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Palestinian detained in France after rabbi hit with chair
According to the source, the suspect attacked Rabbi Elie Lemmel in the western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Lemmel, who wore a traditional kippah cap and a long beard, was taken to hospital with a head injury. The assailant was arrested. The attacker is a Palestinian man residing illegally in Germany, said a source close to the case, adding that the man benefits from a status that offers a form of protection for people who cannot be deported to a conflict zone. An investigation has been launched into aggravated assault, prosecutors said. The rabbi said he had been attacked twice in the space of a week. Last Friday he was attacked in the northwestern town of Deauville when three drunk individuals hit him in the stomach. On Friday, the rabbi was talking to a person he had arranged to meet when he was attacked, receiving "a huge blow to the head". "I fell to the ground and heard people shouting 'stop him', and I realised that I had just been attacked," he told broadcaster BFMTV. "I am very afraid that we are living in a world where words are generating more and more evil," he said. The French Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, has faced a number of attacks and desecrations of memorials since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023. In January, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) deplored what it called a "historic" level of antisemitic acts. - 'Clashes fuelled by hatred' - While welcoming the fact that attack was not fatal, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou deplored "the radicalisation of public debate." "Day after day, our country is plagued by clashes fuelled by hatred," he told reporters, also pointing to assaults against "our Muslim compatriots". The CRIF condemned "in the strongest possible terms the anti-Semitic attack on the rabbi". "In a general context where hatred of Israel fuels the stigmatisation of Jews on a daily basis, this attack is yet another illustration of the toxic climate targeting French Jews," the CRIF said on X. Yonathan Arfi, the CRIF president, said: "Nothing, not even solidarity with the Palestinians, can ever justify attacking a rabbi." France's Holocaust memorial, three Paris synagogues and a restaurant were vandalised with paint last week. A judge has charged three Serbs with vandalising the Jewish sites "to serve the interests of a foreign power", a judicial source said on Friday. In 2024, a total of 1,570 antisemitic acts were recorded in France, according to the interior ministry. Officials say the number of such crimes has increased in the wake of the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people. The attack was followed by relentless Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which the Hamas-run health ministry has said resulted in the deaths of at least 54,677 people, and an aid blockade.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
'This desire to eliminate Hamas in Gaza will only build a generation of jihadists against Israel'
17:16 06/06/2025 Arms blockade symbolic: 'US will have to take action to pressure Israel to change behaviour in Gaza' Middle East 06/06/2025 French dock workers block shipment of military material for Israel France 06/06/2025 Aid vessel heading to Gaza rescues four Libyan migrants in Mediterranean Sea Middle East 06/06/2025 Israeli PM Netanyahu confirms arming Gaza militia against Hamas Middle East 06/06/2025 Israel targets Hezbollah's drone production in southern Beirut Middle East 05/06/2025 'We protect our society as a whole' when our leaders encourage us to unite against violent rhetoric Americas 04/06/2025 There is no accountability for atrocities against Syrian minorities, analyst says Middle East 04/06/2025 US- and Israeli-backed group pauses food delivery in Gaza after deadly shootings Middle East 04/06/2025 Is Gaza Humanitarian Foundation trying to 'drive entire population of Gaza to Rafa border'? Middle East
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
EU backs 'cornerstone of international justice' after US sanctions ICC judges
The EU gave its backing on Friday to the International Criminal Court after Washington imposed sanctions on four ICC judges, and EU member Slovenia said it would push Brussels to use its power to ensure the US sanctions could not be enforced in Europe. EU member France also said it was renewing its call on the US to withdraw all sanctions against the court. 'The ICC holds perpetrators of the world's gravest crimes to account and gives victims a voice. It must be free to act without pressure,' European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said on social media platform X. Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, which represents national governments of the 27 member states, called the court 'a cornerstone of international justice' and said its independence and integrity must be protected. US President Donald Trump 's administration imposed sanctions on four judges at the ICC in retaliation for the war tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan. The US order names Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia. The US sanctions mean the judges are now on a list of specially designated sanctioned individuals. Any US assets they have will be blocked and they are put on an automated screening service used by not only American banks but many banks worldwide, making it very difficult for sanctioned persons to hold or open bank accounts or transfer money. Trump's initial order announcing sanctions on the ICC also said that US citizens who provide services for the benefit of sanctioned individuals could face civil and criminal penalties. France said on Friday it backed the International Criminal Court after Washington imposed sanctions on four ICC judges, and said it was renewing its call on the United States to withdraw all its sanctions against the court. "France expresses its solidarity with the judges targeted by this decision, and reaffirms its unwavering support for the ICC and its staff, whose role is essential in the fight against impunity," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Slovenia urges EU to block sanctions Slovenia urged the EU to use its blocking statute, which lets the EU ban European companies from complying with US sanctions that Brussels deems unlawful. The power has been used in the past to prevent Washington from banning European trade with Cuba and Iran. 'Due to the inclusion of a citizen of an EU member state on the sanctions list, Slovenia will propose the immediate activation of the blocking act,' Slovenia's foreign ministry said in a post on social media site X late on Thursday. ICC president Judge Tomoko Akane had urged the EU already in March this year to bring the ICC into the scope of the blocking statute. The new sanctions have been imposed at a difficult time for the ICC, which is already reeling from earlier US sanctions against its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who last month stepped aside temporarily amid a United Nations investigation into alleged sexual misconduct. The court's governing body, which represents its 125 member states, on Friday condemned the US government's decision to retaliate against judges. 'These ... are regrettable attempts to impede the Court and its personnel in the exercise of their independent judicial functions,' the Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties said.
