The second invasion of al-Shuja’iyya is a war of attrition
Wounded Palestinian at Al-Ahli Arab hospital after Israeli attacks on homes al-Shuja’iyya, Gaza City, 27 June 2024
Tareq S. Hajjaj reports in Mondoweiss on 28 June 2024:
It was noon on June 26 when the residents of the al-Shuja’iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City — one of the largest neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip inhabited by over 300,000 people — were taken by surprise as Israeli tanks rolled into their neighborhood.
Residents described chaotic scenes as tanks fired indiscriminately, unleashing a barrage of shells that ripped through the area. Many hastily gathered their essentials into bags that they had prepared in anticipation of yet another round of displacement. Within hours, videos and photos circulated showing thousands fleeing in panic, fear, and tears.
Arwa Awais, 22, who had given birth to her baby in her home on al-Mantar Street, recounted seeing her husband spring into action when he saw the tanks approaching about 300 meters away from their home. They grabbed what they could and headed to the Sabha Hospital.
“I was unaware of what I was doing,” she told Mondoweiss. “I put my baby daughter’s supplies in a bag, carried them, and we went out into the street without wearing appropriate clothes or putting our shoes on our feet.” Having endured multiple displacements in previous months, and knowing the horrors of which Israeli ground forces were capable from previous massacres in the north, Arwa knew that staying was not an option. She joined her sister Lina from al-Nazaz Street, and together they sought refuge with a third sister in the western outskirts of al-Shuja’iyya.
When the three sisters met, they decided to completely evacuate al-Shuja’iyya. The third sister who hosted them was also looking for another place to go with her family until the incursion began to wind down. They considered areas west of Gaza City, or they risked going south and not being able to return.
That night, the majority of families in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood left their homes and slept in the streets, carrying everything they owned on their backs.