Israeli fire from military towers, quadcopters and snipers is increasingly targeting Palestinians in the so-called safe zones.
Written by: Maha Hussaini, Gaza City, occupied Palestine
Less than two weeks before his daughter’s wedding, Khalil al-Masri and his eldest son set off on a journey to complete one of the family’s most joyous preparations: paying for and finalizing the wedding dress that his daughter had selected at a shop in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City. After the booking was confirmed, the two stopped to celebrate at a nearby sweet shop, where they met up with two friends. As they sat at a table outside the shop, a live bullet pierced Masri’s head, knocking him unconscious as his son and his friends watched helplessly, terrified.
The 43-year-old father of seven was rushed to al-Shifa Hospital, but died of his injuries the next day, June 14. „He was in complete shock. He was very happy, laughing with his friends. He ordered a dessert, but the bullet went through his head before they could bring out the order,” Masri’s brother, Mahmoud, told Middle East Eye. „The wedding turned into a funeral.”
The incident, captured on a surveillance camera at the entrance to the store, is not unique. While the source of the shooting remains unidentified, it fits into an escalating Israeli pattern that has targeted Palestinian civilians in various areas of the Gaza Strip in recent weeks. „The shooting came from the east. We assume it came from an Israeli quadcopter or a military hoist [watchtower],” Mahmoud said. „There was a quadcopter in the area before it was shot down, but there was also a military hoist in the same direction, in the yellow zone [about 1.7 km away].”
Murder from above The military lifts resemble machine-gun-equipped watchtowers that the Israeli army has set up in the occupied territories near the „Yellow Line.” This is the area that Israel was supposed to temporarily hold during the first phase of the ceasefire, but refused to hand it over. Israel has not moved on to the second phase of the agreement, which would have required its withdrawal, and has now „absorbed” more than 60 percent of the Gaza Strip.
The hoists are used to raise weapons and surveillance equipment above ground level, allowing for expanded visual coverage of vast areas and the ability to fire into wide civilian zones. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, these structures have been deployed at 23 different locations in the Yellow Zone in the eastern Gaza Strip.
On the same day that Masri was shot, at least five other Palestinians were hit by Israeli gunfire in another neighborhood in the heart of Gaza City. Among them was 19-year-old university student Muhammed Abu Hassira, who witnesses said was walking on al-Wehda Street when Israeli forces opened fire. Witnesses said they could not determine whether the shots came from an armed quadcopter or an Israeli military watchtower.
„Muhammed was on his way home from the gym on al-Wehda Street at around 7pm when Israeli occupation forces suddenly opened fire, hitting him and other pedestrians. He and four or five other people fell to the ground,” Khaled al-Tarshawi, Abu Hassira’s uncle, told MEE. „He was shot in the stomach. People rushed to his aid to take him and the other wounded to the hospital. He was transported in a wheelchair because there was no vehicle. The doctors tried to save him, but by the time they got there, he had already lost too much blood.”
Abu Hassira had just finished his second semester of college. After graduating from high school amid the genocide, he enrolled in an engineering program at a university in Gaza. „He was intelligent, patient, and always devoted to his parents. His mother was devastated when she heard the news, but his father was even more so. Muhammed was the oldest and most beloved son,” his uncle said. „Muhammed survived the devastating Israeli attacks during the two and a half years of the genocide and refused to leave Gaza City. He refused to evacuate to the south and managed to survive the worst of the genocide. But he was killed during the ceasefire with a quadcopter or a crane.”
Safe zones in crosshairs But cranes and quadcopters are just two of the many ways Palestinians have faced death in Gaza since the October ceasefire agreement. Israeli tanks and snipers stationed in the Yellow Zone have repeatedly opened fire on pedestrians and makeshift tents in the so-called safe area over the past eight months, killing and wounding scores of Palestinians.
Just a day after Masri and Abu Hassira were shot, 13-year-old Amir al-Bashiti was shot in the head by an Israeli bullet while he was in his makeshift tent in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. His parents say the bullet most likely came from an Israeli tank. „It was around midnight and he was playing in front of the tent with his cousins and friends. I told him to come in and sleep, but I wish I hadn’t,” Emad al-Bashiti, Amir’s father, told MEE. „He walked in with his blanket and said, ’I want to tell you what happened.’ At that time, there were sounds of Israeli tanks moving and gunfire near the camp. I told him to sit down and sleep because there was gunfire. He insisted on telling the story before he fell asleep.”
Before he could finish his story, an Israeli bullet hit Amir in the head and exited through his neck in front of his father, mother, and siblings. „It wasn’t a normal bullet, it was an explosive. I heard it explode after it went through his head,” Bashiti continued. „He fell to the ground and vomited blood. I held his hand, but he was unconscious. By the time I picked him up and rushed him to the hospital, he was dead.”
Amir and his family fled Rafah and sought refuge in the Batn al-Samin area of Khan Yunis, a relatively safe zone where tens of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge. Israeli targeting of civilians has escalated in recent weeks, with Palestinians increasingly being killed and injured far beyond the Yellow Line, including in areas designated as safe by the ceasefire agreement.
Just on Friday, a Palestinian child was killed and two others from the Totah family were wounded when an Israeli quadcopter dropped an explosive device on them while they were collecting water east of Gaza City. On the same day, another Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on October 10, at least 1,072 Palestinians have been killed and 3,463 wounded in the Gaza Strip. At least 73,098 people have died in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
„"Anyone who calls this a ceasefire is turning a blind eye to what is actually happening on the ground. This is not a ceasefire, this is continuous fire," Bashiti said.
