(30 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Near Khan Younis – 30 August 2024
1. Various of destruction east of Khan Younis
2. Close of shell
3. Various of destruction
4. Various of Palestinian family checking the rubble of their destroyed house
5. Close of toy vehicle
6. Various of child amongst rubble
7. Various of family in destroyed building
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hosam Shobair, displaced from Khan Yonis area:
“They said there was a withdrawal today. We came, me and my children, to be reassured, and we were happy to be back home, even though the house had been hit by shells since the beginning of the war. We came and found the house destroyed.”
9. Various of family siting among the destruction of their house
10. Various of destruction, people collecting their belongings from the rubble
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Um Mohammad Abu Samra (nickname), displaced person:
“Since October 7 and until this moment, we have been displaced from place to place. We left the east from here to Rafah, then we moved to Khan Younis, and from Khan Younis, we returned here. We have been displaced countless times, and you can see, the situation that we are in is a deplorable state, from the loss of our homes, our family, our brothers, our neighbours. Frankly, I walk and what I’m feeling is indescribable.”
12. Various of tunnel destroyed by the Israeli army during its operation
13. Various of destruction, people walking near the rubble
STORYLINE:
Palestinians returning to areas near Khan Younis on Friday after Israeli forces withdrew found their homes destroyed and their neighbourhoods devastated.
The Israeli military said Friday it had finished a major operation in the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, adding that it killed 250 militants during the operation.
Over the course of the operation, the military said it also destroyed kilometers of underground tunnels and recovered the bodies of six hostages.
Residents returned on Friday to find their neighbourhoods unrecognisable.
“The situation that we are in is deplorable," said Khan Younis resident who gave her name only as Um Mohammad Abu Samra.
“From the loss of our homes, our family, our brothers and our neighbours. Frankly, I walk and what I’m feeling is indescribable," she added.
At the Israeli military’s announcement that evacuated Palestinians from the area could return, she hurried back to find her home in ruins and entire neighbourhood blocks transformed into giant craters of sand.
“We have been displaced countless times," she said, her voice breaking.
Hosam Shobair, another displaced resident, also returned to Khan Younis with his family on Friday to see what had happened to his apartment, which he said had been struck by Israeli shelling at the beginning of the war.
He found the home where he’d lived for years reduced to rubble, but said there was still some solace in seeing even that.
“We were happy to be back home,” Shobair said, as his wife, children and other relatives sat on the twisted rebar and mounds of concrete that had once been their home.
Israel’s continued military offensive in besieged Gaza has displaced roughly 90% of the strip’s population of 2.3 million.
Most have been displaced multiple times over the course of the war.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which around 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministr.
AP video shot by Mariam Dagga
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