Israeli operations in northern Gaza left “complete devastation,” according to residents of the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, where some said they were forced to drink from toilets due to a lack of water.
Abdul Karim al-Qaseer was displaced two months ago from Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip to the “industrial zone” southeast of Gaza City, where some industrial factories are located, he told a local journalist working for CNN on Saturday.
Al-Qusair said that the Israeli Defense Forces “struck the entire area (resulting in a large number of martyrs and wounded” where he was taking shelter).
“We were trapped,” he said. “We tried to go back north, but we were trapped here.” Every day there were martyrs. Every day there was bombing. Every day there was hunger.”
Al-Quseir added: “We were even drinking water from the toilets. We had to drink from it and make our children drink from it. There was no food or drink.”
Olfat Hamdan said that she saw bodies dumped in the streets of Gaza City, noting that “no one was able to drag or move them.”
“What did you see? Total devastation — look at the extent of the devastation,” she said in a video commissioned by CNN, pointing to damaged buildings and rubble around her.
Another resident of Gaza City, Naeem Naeem, said he saw bodies in the streets, some of which he described as having been there for 10 days.
“No one can move them,” he added. He added: “They have destroyed these areas, as you can see for yourselves,” pointing to the rubble in the video.
Fighting continued intermittently in northern Gaza. Earlier this month, the Israeli army announced further operations in the northern Gaza Strip, saying that “Israeli army forces continue to enter Hamas military compounds and eliminate terrorists.”
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