stories of more horror are coming out of khoza’a… terrible stories of massacre, of people trapped in their homes amid shelling and attacks that continued for three days, people bleeding to death in front of the eyes of other people, of families being taken as human shields. the typical horror stories of a zionist army ground invasion. but i am not sure what the situation in khoza’a is now. here is a short report published on wednesdsay based on an eyewitness account.
khoza’a is east of khan younis, with a population of almost 10,000, and only 500m from the “border”. since tuesday and for the next three days, apparently, a massacre took place in this village, that had no access to food, water, or medical aid. journalists and ambulances were not allowed in. several people have translated his tweets from arabic and posted them. at least 55 were confirmed dead in khoza’a, but my guess is the number is higher. until thursday, red cross ambulances stood as close to khoza’a as they could (eye witness ismail mahmoud says 2km away) and those injured had to run to them, risking their lives. at least four people were shot dead as snipers shot at anyone who moved. snipers were stationed on top of houses, putting everyone under house arrest. according to pchr, by wednesday at noon, israeli forces had invaded the village. there was confusion about a humanitarian ceasefire and people were trying to evacuate, but soldiers shot at them. here is pchr’s notes on khuza’a (khuza’a is not the only place were people were bombed, shot at, denied medical aid, trapped, etc., as the report shows, such war crimes happened in many villages in the khan younis area and all over gaza. please read the full report):
Israeli forces maintained their incursion into Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis, and there are reports that there are dozens of Palestinian casualties in the village, and medical crews were denied access to them. When many civilians attempted to leave the village, Israeli forces fired at them, killing 4.
wednesday:
At approximately 12:30, Israel forces that had moved into Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis, fired bullets and artillery shells at hundreds of Palestinian civilians who attempted to leave the village as there were reports about a one-hour coordination to evacuate casualties. Israeli forces fired also at ambulances and prevented them from entering the village
At approximately 17:00, 12 ambulances attempted to enter Khuza’a village, but Israeli forces prevented and fired at them.
At approximately 18:30, an Israeli warplane launched a missile at a house belonging to Dr. Kamal Abu Rujaila, which he uses as clinic, in Khuza’a village, as a number of wounded Palestinians went to the house seeking medical aid. A number of casualties were reported as a result of the attack. Apparently, one Palestinian was killed. Medical crews were not able to reach the house. A volunteer paramedic, who was wounded throughout the body while he was attempting to evacuate wounded Palestinians, has been trapped in the area since Wednesday morning, 23 July 2014, as medical crews have not been able to reach him. According to reports from Khuza’a village, Israeli forces raided a number of houses and turned them into military sites. They also arrested scores of Palestinians. At approximately 23:00, an ICRC crew and 10 ambulances of Palestine Red Crescent Society went to Kuza’a village, but they were not able to evacuate victims because the situation was extremely dangerous.
At approximately 21:00, an Israeli warplane launched a missile at a number of Palestinian civilians in Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis, killing 2 of them: Mohammed Barham Abu Draz, 24; and ‘Essam Ibrahim Abu Ismail, 23.
Thursday
At approximately 07:15, Israeli forces fired at a number of Palestinian civilians who attempted to leave Khuza’a through a dirt road leading to ‘Abassan village. One of these civilians, Mohammed Ahmed Suleiman al-Najjar, 56, was killed by a bullet to the neck. Two civilians were also wounded.
Also at approximately 08:30, medical crews were able to recover the body of Fadi Yousef Ahmed al-Najjar, 27, who is physically disabled, from Khuza’a village. He was killed by Israeli shelling
At approximately 09:50, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a motor cart on which a number of Palestinian civilians were traveling attempting to leave Khuza’a village. As a result, 4 civilians were killed and another 2 ones were wounded. The victims have not been identified as their bodies were burnt.
on thursday, when red cross ambulances were finally allowed in, an aljazeera team went in as well and shot this video.
mahmoud ismail tweeted since monday. many translated his tweets into english and shared them. yesterday, i posted this compilation of translated his tweets.
journalist max blumenthal wrote this article with background information and a series of translations of mahmoud ismail’s tweets.
blumenthal also published translations of mahmoud ismai’s tweets by mohammad a. oun on storify (some of the tweets are the same as in the aforementioned article):
In the next tweets I’m going to write some translations of a survivor of the massacre of Khuza’a #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #AJAGAZA @Ibn3arbi