{"id":16669,"date":"2023-10-22T02:57:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-22T02:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/palestinians-haunted-by-fears-of-another-nakba\/"},"modified":"2023-10-22T02:57:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T02:57:05","slug":"palestinians-haunted-by-fears-of-another-nakba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/palestinians-haunted-by-fears-of-another-nakba\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestinians haunted by fears of another \u2018Nakba\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p><figure class=\"media  sm:w-full  w-full  media--stretch    media--uneven  media--stretch\"><figcaption class=\"media__caption  \">PALESTINIANS evacuate a wounded man after an Israeli strike near a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Khan Yunis, on Saturday.\u2014AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>AL ZAHRA: Omar Ashur became a refugee during the Nakba (catastrophe) experienced by Palestinians following Israel\u2019s creation in 1948 and now fears the ongoing bombardment of Gaza will again force him into exile.<\/p>\n<p>A retired general from the Palestinian Authority security forces, 83-year-old Ashur lives in Al Zahra, central Gaza, where Israeli missiles flattened an area of more than 20 buildings late on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Residents had been warned to flee before the strikes, but many of them raced into the street with no idea of where to go.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1782340\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>When they returned in the early hours of Friday morning, they found a scene of devastation, with several blocks of buildings reduced to smoking ruins and rubble.<\/p>\n<p>The area lies about 10 kilometres south of Gaza City, where Israeli warplanes have focused their fierce bombardments since the Hamas raid on Oct 7.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the ongoing bombardment, he also worries about the future, fearing the war will push Gaza\u2019s residents \u2014 two-thirds of whom are refugees \u2014 to flee again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Clear aim\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s happening is dangerous,\u201d Ashur said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI fear that the ongoing destruction has a clear aim, so people don\u2019t have a place to live which will spark a new Nakba,\u201d he said, referring to the 760,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes after the creation of Israel 75 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Gaza\u2019s population of 2.4 million is largely made up of descendants of those refugees.<\/p>\n<p>Ashur was just eight when he and his family fled in 1948 from Majdal \u2014 what is today the Israeli town of Ashkelon \u2014 to Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>And for him, the ongoing war brings back painful memories.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s happening today is much worse. At the time, Israel would shoot to kill and force people to flee, but the current situation is more horrific,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>More than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments since Oct 7, according to Gaza\u2019s health ministry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018A hellish night\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Around one million Gazans have been displaced by the ongoing bombing campaign, the UN says, with Israel also cutting off supplies of water, electricity, fuel and food to the impoverished enclave.<\/p>\n<p>Gazing at the destruction in Al Zahra is Rami Abu Wazna, his haggard face struggling to take it in. Twenty-four 24 buildings were razed, an AFP journalist said. \u201cEven in my worst nightmares, I never thought this could be possible,\u201d he whispers.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of residents who had fled the neighbourhood spent the night trying to find shelter from dozens of Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy bomb us, we\u2019re civilians! Where will we go? Everything is gone,\u201d Abu Wazna said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PALESTINIANS evacuate a wounded man after an Israeli strike near a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Khan Yunis, on Saturday.\u2014AFP AL ZAHRA: Omar Ashur became a refugee during the Nakba (catastrophe) experienced by Palestinians following Israel\u2019s creation in 1948 and now fears the ongoing bombardment of Gaza will again [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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