© Screenshot/AljazeeraA Palestinian used as a human shield by Israeli soldiers in Al-Shujatyya
Surrounded by dozens of soldiers, tanks, armored cars, buzzing drones, and army dogs, Ahmad Safi found himself looking at a massive hole in the ground.
"Of all the death scenarios I have imagined myself in since the beginning of the war,
I never suspected I would see my own grave," the 26-year-old Khan Younis resident told Mondoweiss.
Ahmad and his male relatives had been detained by the Israeli army and
forcibly conscripted to stand in front of a resistance military base as the Israeli soldiers took cover behind them. They were caught in the middle of an exchange of fire between the soldiers and the resistance.On the night of January 22, the Israeli army launched a sudden attack on western Khan Younis, where five shelters for displaced people were located.
In the middle of the night, the Israeli troops advanced towards the Tiba buildings, where Ahmad and his family had taken refuge in the middle of the
Israeli-designated "safe zone." These buildings were surrounded by al-Aqsa University, the al-Khair Hospital, the Industrial College, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Center, and the al-Mawasi coastal area, all housing tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
Comment: Israel's leadership perhaps considers the ongoing genocide as ideal cover for the other deplorable tasks it has on its 'to-do' list. Taking that into account, alongside Israel's escalation of the slaughter in Rafah, and the fact that, as noted, there was no rush to get the project done - Israel is already struggling economically, and so a project such as this is hardly going to take precedence - one could conclude that this is yet more evidence of the rapacious and heartless nature of the Israeli state.