In a devastating act of betrayal, Israeli military forces declared Khan Yunus al-Mawasi a humanitarian zone, promising civilians a “place of safety”. 

But in a cruel twist, under the cover of darkness, rockets struck the very area where exhausted and relocated families were lying asleep.

At least 37 people were killed, and hundreds more were wounded. Heartbreakingly, entire families were buried alive under the sand, leaving behind nothing but silence and devastation. 

What was meant to be a safe zone turned into a mass grave in an instant, marking yet another night of horror for the people of Gaza.

Dozens are Injured, and Many Remain Unaccounted

As dawn broke over Khan Yunus al-Mawasi, the promise of safety shattered with the sound of explosions. Families had gone to sleep under the belief that this humanitarian zone was free from violence, only to be awakened by the brutal reality of war. 

The Israel Defense Force justified their assault by claiming it had killed two “senior Hamas commanders” in the area. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “tragedy”.

However, in search to kill Hamas commanders, they have killed innocent and poor Gaza civilians. The strikes were so brutal that entire families were buried under the rubble, and no one knew what had happened to them as desperate searches started in the wreckage.

“We were sitting safely at the door of our house when suddenly we heard the sound of a missile,” witness Fadi Dukhan told Reuters.

According to another witness, Ola Al-Shaer, who moved with her family to al-Mawasi to escape fighting elsewhere in Gaza, says —

“We heard around five or six strikes, one after the other,” she said. “We rushed to help and saw women and children cut to pieces, but there are still people missing.”

The rescue efforts began in complete darkness, as the camp lacked sufficient electricity for lights. Rescuers used flashlights to search through the sand, hoping to find anyone still alive.

When the sun finally rose, it revealed massive craters in the sand, scattered with fragments of tent frames and bits of clothing.

The Whole Families Disappear in the Sand

According to civil defense spokeperson Mahmoud Basal, the people in the camps were not given any warning before the strike. He added they destroyed at least 20 to 40 camps and left three deep craters.

“There are entire families who have disappeared under the sand in the Mawasi Khan Younis massacre,” Basal said.

The most horrifying part of the strike is that people had already fled from one overcrowded area, only to be displaced again to the camps in Khan Yunus.

And just when they thought they had found some measure of safety, they were hit by a barrage of strikes that tore through the camp without warning.

The impact was devastating. It was complete genocide at Khan Yonus that night.

“I was under the sand as well. I got out and started looking for my daughters and my wife. I saw body parts of the neighbours in my tent – I did not know those were our neighbours’ parts until I saw my family in one piece.”

Abu Muammar a survival who lost one of his daughter. 

Furthermore, the rescue teams were working tirelessly, but the lack of proper equipment and shovels to dig through the rubble made their efforts less effective than needed, costing many lives. 

On top of that, the darkness severely limited visibility, hindering the rescue operation.

According to an earlier report, the Israeli defense forces had taken an aerial view of the area to assess the situation and minimize damage. Seizing the opportunity, they launched the strike under the cover of night. 

This deliberate act shows that the attack wasn’t aimed at targeting a Hamas commander but rather seemed to be a calculated move to harm innocent civilians, including children, the elderly, and women.

The World Should Reunite Now

Global outrage is growing as world leaders and high-ranking officials condemn the recent atrocities committed by the Israeli military. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has labeled the actions as “unacceptable,” following the fatal shooting of a U.S. activist during the violence before this genocide. 

He emphasized that such acts of genocide must be stopped immediately, calling for accountability and justice for the victims.

The international community cannot stand by in silence as entire families are wiped out and innocent civilians continue to suffer. The time has come for world leaders to unite and take decisive action. 

The United Nations must urgently call for a ceasefire to halt the ongoing bloodshed and prevent further loss of life. Every second counts as the situation in Gaza spirals out of control, and without global intervention, the devastation will only deepen.

The world needs to act now—for humanity and the survival of the people of Gaza.

Gaza has been under attack by Israel for over 350 days now, and there are no signs of the war coming to an end anytime soon.

The war has been so brutal to the people of Gaza that they are left without food, water, and essential medical care needed for survival.

Beyond lacking these necessities, which are even more devastating, they have no homes to protect them.

The UN reports that 85% of Gaza’s population, totaling 1.9 million civilians, has been forcibly displaced due to Israel’s military operations.

The genocide by Israel has been so ruthless that they are bombing shelters, hospitals, and even areas where people have sought refuge in tents.

Thus, people are forcefully taking shelter on the brink of the sea. The conditions for those living by the water are dire, with their makeshift tents offering little protection from the heat and cold.

The Winter is Approaching in Gaza

The Gaza Strip experiences winters from December to March. With the location on the shore and minimal protection,  this winter is likely to be extremely harsh for the refugees living there.

Currently, during the day, they are building sand walls to protect themselves from high tides and prevent water from entering their tents.

But at night, the sand walls become useless. With the high tides rising after dark, water floods their tents, sweeping away whatever little they managed to save while escaping the war. 

What makes it even more heartbreaking is the rising tides that cause dozens of tents to sink into the sea, leaving families with nowhere to go.

Right now, the people of Gaza have sought refuge on the beaches of Khan Yunus and Bahar Al Wusqa. These areas are notorious for their high tides, making the situation even more dangerous.

“It was the worst night I’ve ever witnessed. The water was so deep last night, with massive waves reaching six meters high. There are still many children in the water.” — A survivor who endured the high tide on Khan Yunus beach.

As the waves flood the tents at night while people sleep, many belongings are swept away by the water, and tragically, it often carries small children with it.

With nowhere else to go, they are left battling the elements, the sea, and the endless uncertainty of what tomorrow might bring. 

What will be even more catastrophic are the upcoming winter months. The bitter cold, combined with the relentless sea breeze, will make survival even harder for those with little to protect them. 

With freezing winds from the sea ahead and death and destruction haunting them from behind in the city, the people of Gaza will face a season that may bring even more suffering than the war itself.

Mothers will struggle to keep their children warm with nothing but thin blankets and broken tents. The elderly, already weak, will find it nearly impossible to endure the biting cold. 

Each night, the temperature will drop, and the fear of not making it through till morning will hang over every family. 

The sea, which has already claimed so much, will become even more dangerous as the harsh winter storms roll in, threatening to wash away what little remains of their shelters.

With no escape, no warmth, and no safety, this winter could be the most brutal test of their resilience yet.

More Struggle Ahead of Stchoring Winters for Gaza Survivals

Winter is nearing, but it’s uncertain if those currently living in tents will survive through it.

The Israeli army is now attacking the very places where people have set up tents. Even refugee shelters are under bombardment. The people of Gaza don’t know where to go anymore.

There’s nowhere in Gaza where people haven’t been forced to take refuge. Conditions have worsened to the point where people are building tents in rubble, saying the area is already destroyed and no one will return here. For now, people are taking shelter in the ruins of broken homes.

The real question is, how are they surviving? After October 7, 2023, the last oil shipment arrived in Gaza, and since then, oil, gas, and other natural resources have been cut off.

Hospitals have no electricity for ventilators, no oxygen cylinders, and no clean water.

Death could come from any direction at any moment. For the people of Gaza, it’s a choice between falling into a pit or drowning in a well.

In the face of such relentless destruction, it is crucial for international bodies like the UN and humanitarian organizations to take immediate action. This is no longer a regional conflict but a full-scale humanitarian crisis that demands urgent attention. 

Now, with Israel extending its aggression toward Lebanon, the situation is spiraling out of control. Lebanon’s involvement in supporting Gaza has only escalated tensions, and there is no telling how far the destruction will spread. 

For the sake of humanity, the global community must intervene now. The UN and international leaders must pressure for an immediate ceasefire and create safe humanitarian corridors to provide food, water, and medical aid. 

It’s time for the world to act, not just watch from the sidelines. This genocide must stop before Gaza is wiped off the map completely. 

Silence is no longer an option—every second counts. Lives are at stake, and the people of Gaza need the world’s help before it’s too late.

Killing and maiming, targeted attacks on schools and hospitals, denials of humanitarian access—these are some of the war crimes criteria set by the United Nations Security Council against children. In the last ten months, Israel has tickeck all these boxes.

But, what’s staggering is that, though the world sees its heinous genocide against the Palestinian future today, a version camouflaged form of this ethnic cleansing has been going on for decades.

Under the zionist occupation, children in Gaza and even the entire Palestine rarely had access to basic rights. Now, however, with nothing to hide, the Israeli military is committing every single war crime and more—and there are still governments supporting and funding this one-sided genocide in the name of “protecting its sovereignty”.

Children Deliberately Shot by Israeli Forces

Children account for one-third of more than 39,000 people killed in Gaza – according to the Palestinian health ministry. A lot more have suffered severe injuries, including burns and amputations. And while Israel is trying to brush these deaths and injuries as collateral damage, how can the military justify deliberate gunshot wounds to the head or chest to children as young as seven?

In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an Orthopedic Surgeon from North Carolina who volunteered in Gaza’s conflict zones in the first few weeks of April, revealed the distressing reality. This is a reality that has only worsened since April, given the Rafah, al-Mawasi, and attack on another humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.

He said that his 30 years of working in conflict zones doesn’t equal to the “level of carnage seen against civilians” in just his first week in Gaza. Dr. Perlmutter further discloses that hospitals are filled with incinerated and shredded children(by explosions or crushed by buildings).

“I’ve had children who were shot twice”

Dr Perlmutter

Children are being shot with dead-center shots. The reports confirmed this with over twenty more doctors currently aiding in Gaza about the continued shooting directed towards children.

“…I didn’t believe that this many children could be admitted to a single hospital with gunshot wounds to the head…”

Widespread Diseases in the Displaced and Distressed Children of Gaza

The lack of food, clean water, sanitation, and medical supplies is forming new challenges for the children saved from bombardment and military assaults. Lice, scabies, and rashes are plaguing the Gazan children as skin and other infectious diseases run rampant in humanitarian tent camps.

According to the World Health Organization, doctors in Gaza are wrestling with 103,000 cases of lice and scabies and 65,000 cases of skin rashes. Whereas in the 2.3 million population, over a million are suffering from acute respiratory infections, along with 100,000 cases of jaundice and half a million with acute diarrhea- according to the United Nations Development Program.

Due to the appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps with dirty water, garbage everywhere, and limited or no sanitary products, controlling the spread is nearly impossible. With make-shift homes crammed with children, if one child gets a disease, “it spreads to all of them,” says Nahhal, a Gazan mother surviving in the war zone.

Attack on Schools and Hospitals

On Sunday, 4th August, an Israeli airstrike hit two schools in Gaza, killing at least 30 people and taking hostage in the building. Earlier in the day, the Al-Aqsa hospital compound was attacked, which left over 18 people wounded and five Gazans deceased.

These are another attack in the queue of bombardments and military insertions in schools and hospitals. The Israeli military says—without providing any evidence—that Hamas is using schools and hospitals as hiding places and command centers for terrorist operations.

Gaza: The Most Dangerous Place to Be a Child

At the start of the war, the United Nations said that Gaza was a “graveyard for children.” Now, however, the situation is far worse than imaginable, for nearly 1.1 million children surviving in the most dangerous place in the world.

War crimes, rampant diseases, constant bombardment, and widespread hopelessness—this is the reality of Gazans, adults and children alike. In the past ten months of the war, more than 1.8 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have lost their homes. Many of them were even forced to move multiple times to get away from the military assaults.

All this when the distribution of humanitarian supplies, including food, water, and medicines, is dwindling—given the lawlessness in Gaza and Israeli military attacks on aid vehicles.

“Growing up should be a time of hope, not horror,” yet for the one million children in Gaza, hope is nowhere to be found. Day after day, horrific atrocities on Gazan children continue to dominate headlines, but still, they are not getting the attention and safety they deserve.