Gaza’s civilians have nowhere left to run

BLOCKED from all sides with no means of escape, Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinians are trapped in the battlefield between Hamas fighters and Israeli troops.

“Where should we go? No place is safe in this merciless war Israel is waging against us,” said Umm Mohammad of Tal al-Hawa, a neighbourhood in the city of Gaza where Israeli troops battled militants overnight.

Israeli tanks tightened their hold around the city of Gaza yesterday, the 18th day of an offensive Israel launched with the stated goal of ending years of rocket attacks by Gaza militants on its southern cities.

A few blocks away from Umm Mohammad, a Palestinian who gave his name only as Khader spent the night huddled in a room with several relatives who had fled the northern Gaza Strip hoping to find a safe refuge in Gaza’s densely populated urban centres.

“They (Israeli troops) are close by. I feel as if the tank is about to run into our house. We are all in one room,” Khader said to the rumble of advancing Israeli tanks.

With a towering Israeli fence to the east and north, the Israeli navy watching the coast and Egypt reluctant to open its border, there is little hope of escape for most Gazans.

But the devastating Israeli offensive has also caused some Palestinians to question Hamas’s wisdom in calling off a six-month-old cease-fire with Israel in December.

Hamas blamed Israel for raids and a blockade that it said broke the truce terms. Israel says it wants to stop Hamas firing rockets at it.

“Maybe Hamas is partially to blame,” said Mohammad, “not for what is happening but for failing so far to tell us what they want to achieve from all this.”