Israeli actions along the Yellow Line and in the surrounding areas have been condemned by human rights groups. Hamed’s experience is reportedly being felt across Gaza, not just in Khan Younis. In al-Bureij in central Gaza, the shifting of the Yellow Line recently triggered a new wave of displacement. Khaled has survived numerous attacks, including the bombing of his home.
Every night, Hamed goes to sleep knowing that explosions and gunfire from Israeli forces are likely to wake him up several times. He lives along the Israeli-imposed demarcation zone known as the “Yellow Line,” where Israeli ceasefire violations are routine. “Explosions wake people up every day,” said a Palestinian man, who asked not to be named for security reasons. “We also hear bullets whizzing overhead. The shooting doesn’t stop all night,” he added. Hamed, from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said the shooting usually starts in the evening and continues until dawn, punctuated by deafening explosions that crash across the front line. On one occasion, he narrowly escaped death when a bullet hit his house.
“Fortunately, it hit the wall,” he said. Since the ceasefire was signed in October, Israeli forces have repeatedly violated it through numerous airstrikes. “We see the tank approaching, opening fire and retreating. It’s extremely scary,” Hamed said.
The Yellow Line runs along northern, eastern and southern Gaza. It was established under the ceasefire agreement as a temporary withdrawal boundary. Israeli troops remain stationed behind it, controlling up to 58 percent of the territory, pending the next phase of the US-brokered ceasefire, which envisages further Israeli withdrawal. On the ground, however, residents say the border line has been pushed deeper into Gaza, restricting Palestinians’ access to their homes and vital agricultural lands. The shifting of the border has also left families without a permanent shelter. For Hamed, the danger has drawn ever closer in recent weeks. What was once nearly two kilometers away is now less than one.
With this change, the intensity of the fire has increased. The threat, he said, is both physical and psychological. Since some of his neighbors have been injured by gunfire while inside their homes, it has created panic in his family. “My nieces and nephews are always running into my father and mother’s laps to hide,” he said.
Israeli actions along the Yellow Line and in the surrounding areas have been condemned by human rights groups. Hamed’s experience is reportedly being felt across Gaza, not just in Khan Younis. In al-Bureij in central Gaza, the Yellow Line’s displacement recently triggered a new wave of displacement. Khaled has survived numerous attacks, including the bombing of his home. He regularly visits his uncles, who live near the border. Many residents have already fled because of what he described as indiscriminate shooting in the area.
“My uncles were forced to leave their home. Now they are right next to the Yellow Line. The shooting doesn’t stop in the evening or at night,” he said. He recalled a recent visit to check on the property when suddenly gunfire erupted. “We hid in a room facing the army position, then fled when we had the chance,” he said. In the al-Maghazi refugee camp, Houida Salim, a mother of six, says gunfire passes over her house almost every day.
“The war never ends,” she said. “Every time we hear the tanks, we feel like we are prisoners in our house. We can’t leave. Bullets hit the house regularly. There is no ceasefire here,” Salim added. In her area, the Yellow Line has advanced to less than a kilometer away. “We don’t hang our clothes to dry on the roof for fear of the tanks targeting us,” Salim said. (RFE)