Latest news with #Ahmadal-Masri
New York Times
11-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Stay or Go? Israel's Evacuation Orders Leave Gazans Facing an Excruciating Choice.
The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for neighborhoods in Gaza City on Friday as it pressed forward with its offensive in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, once again delivering a painful choice to Palestinians about whether to stay or go. The orders targeted eastern Gaza City, including several parts that the military had declared evacuation zones last week. The move suggested that some people had remained in their homes even after the Israeli military had urged them to leave. Since the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in March, Israel has issued a succession of evacuation orders across Gaza as it takes territory to create what it calls a 'security zone' and targets Hamas. The orders have left many Palestinians debating whether to stay in their neighborhoods despite the danger or leave despite the miserable conditions of displacement. While the United Nations has said that 390,000 people have been displaced in recent weeks, the exact number of people remaining in evacuation zones was unclear. 'We don't want to leave,' said Ahmad al-Masri, 26, a resident of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza who has spurned evacuation orders for his town. 'Where will we go? It's so very tiring.' In some parts of Gaza, the military has issued evacuation orders and later invaded by ground. In other areas, it has put out evacuation orders, but has not sent in infantry. At least some Palestinians who have disregarded evacuation orders said they would leave if Israeli tanks move into their neighborhoods. 'I'm dealing with the reality on the ground,' Mr. al-Masri said. Since the cease-fire broke down, the Israeli military has embarked on a major bombing campaign and seized territory in a tactic that Israeli officials have said was intended to compel Hamas to release more hostages. The military said its recent campaign had dismantled weapons infrastructure and killed militants. On Thursday, the Israeli military said that it had killed a Hamas commander in Gaza City's Shajaiye neighborhood a day earlier, who had participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel. The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency rescue service under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said that 23 people had been killed in strikes in Shajaiye on Wednesday, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants. 'The Israel Defense Forces is acting with great force in your areas to destroy the terrorist infrastructure,' Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesman for the military, said on Friday, announcing the evacuation orders for eastern Gaza City. The Israeli offensive has included evacuation orders encompassing roughly half of the territory, according to a New York Times analysis of Israeli military maps. Satellite imagery also shows that the Israeli military was taking over Rafah, with forces closing in on the southernmost city in Gaza from two directions. More than 1,500 people in Gaza have been killed since the cease-fire fell apart and more than 50,000 people have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Gaza health ministry. The ministry also does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its casualty counts. Doctors at hospitals have said many of those wounded and killed in recent weeks have been children.
New York Times
27-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Gazans Demand End to 18 Years of Hamas Rule
When an Israeli airstrike ripped through a building in central Beit Lahia on Monday night, the farming community in the northernmost part of Gaza was already on edge over an Israeli evacuation order hours earlier. The events shook the town's residents and reminded them of the perils of the war between Israel and Hamas, but they also helped catalyze rare demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza. For three consecutive days, hundreds of people have marched through the town to demand both the end of the war and of Hamas's 18-year-old rule over Gaza — public protests that have spread to a number of other towns in the battered enclave. 'Hamas needs to go away,' said Ahmad al-Masri, a resident of Beit Lahia who helped call for the demonstrations. 'If it doesn't, the bloodshed, the wars and the destruction won't stop.' While most of the demonstrations have been small, they represent the boldest challenge to Hamas's authority by Palestinians in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel of October 2023 and the ensuing war, which has reduced cities to rubble. They also embody the frustration of Palestinians who are again living through ear-shattering and deadly bombing after Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement to extend the cease-fire. It makes clear that at least some Palestinians have put aside their fears about potential retribution by Hamas, which has governed Gaza with a heavy hand. 'We don't have anything to lose,' said Mr. Masri. 'We have already lost our lives, homes, and money.' Before the 2023 attack, Hamas brutally clamped down on Palestinians protesting the miserable living conditions in Gaza and conducted reconnaissance on organizers. But during the latest protests, Hamas's internal security forces have been largely nonexistent. Their absence, analysts said, was likely a reflection of both Hamas's delicate position with Gazans and its reduced ability to mobilize forces under the threat of Israeli airstrikes. 'How can it confront this movement? With force? That would cause even greater anger,' noted Akram Atallah, a Palestinian analyst from the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya. Fearful that Israel could try to kill security officers, Hamas may not be able to deploy them, he added. The first protest took place in Beit Lahia around 4 p.m. on Tuesday. The night before, community members sent around a message calling on residents to take to the streets. 'The square is calling on you,' said a screenshot of the message, shared with The New York Times. 'Enough of wars. We want to live in peace.' The message came shortly after Avichai Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesman of the Israeli military, posted an order for people to evacuate from Beit Lahia on his social media accounts. Not long after, an airstrike pounded into the town, residents said.
