Following two weeks of intense clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli troops in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shajaiye, the area lay in ruins as residents and rescue workers sifted through the devastation on Friday. The landscape was a somber sight, with flattened buildings and numerous bodies scattered around.
Residents’ Accounts
Residents who returned to Shajaiye described a scene of desolation, labeling the neighborhood as uninhabitable. “Homes have turned into piles of rubble, businesses are demolished, and the streets are unrecognizable,” said Karam Hassan, one of the residents surveying the aftermath.
Israeli Efforts and Resistance
Israeli forces, now over nine months into the conflict in Gaza, are re-entering previously captured areas and facing fierce opposition from Hamas fighters. They report discovering weapons caches belonging to the militants amidst the ongoing clashes.
Targeted Elimination
Israel announced on Friday the “elimination” of Ayman Showadeh, the deputy commander of Hamas’s Shajaiye Battalion. Showadeh was a significant figure at the group’s operations center and played a role in directing the Hamas-led attack on October 7 that triggered the conflict in Gaza.
Local Perspective
Ahmed Sidu, a resident and photographer who visited Shajaiye, depicted the area as devoid of shelter and water. The Palestinian Civil Defense disclosed that they had recovered more than 60 bodies from the neighborhood post-Israeli withdrawal. Many individuals were still missing and feared buried beneath the debris, with most buildings razed to the ground.
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