How Israel is squeezing 1.8 million Palestinians into an airport-sized area

The Israeli military has asked Palestinian residents of Gaza to evacuate to a part of the town of al-Mawasi in the south of the besieged strip, designating it as a safe space.

The directive comes at a time when Israel has stepped up its bombing of southern Gaza, especially around the city of Khan Younis, which the Israeli military claims is sheltering leaders of Hamas.

But can the space declared “safe” by Israeli authorities actually accommodate the more than 1.8 million Palestinians who have been forced to evacuate their homes since the outbreak of violence on October 7?

How big is al-Mawasi?

A coastal Bedouin town in the south of the Gaza Strip, al-Mawasi is small and narrow – about 1km (0.6 miles) wide and 14km (8.7 miles) long. It had been surrounded by Israeli settlements until former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon disengaged settlements from Gaza in 2005.

Israel has declared a mere 6.5sq km (2.5sq miles) of desolate, sandy terrain, within the city to be the humanitarian area where evacuees are supposed to seek shelter.

Approved ~ FS

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Article URL : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/6/how-israel-is-squeezing-1-8-million-palestinians-into-an-airport-sized-area