Residents in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighbourhood find yellow concrete blocks marking Israeli withdrawal line, forcing yet another displacement for many families
GAZA CITY: Palestinian residents in eastern Gaza City awoke to find large yellow concrete blocks marking the Israeli military’s withdrawal line.
Ibrahim Farahat discovered one such block directly in front of his home in Shujaiya neighbourhood overnight between Thursday and Friday.
“They placed the yellow block in front of our house,” Farahat told AFP.
“Now gunfire is reaching our house.”
The blocks mark the so-called Yellow Line where Israeli troops have withdrawn under the US-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.
Despite the withdrawal, Israeli forces still control more than half of Gaza’s territory.
Multiple deadly incidents have occurred since the October 10 ceasefire took effect.
Israeli forces have fired on people approaching or crossing the Yellow Line.
Many Shujaiya residents are now preparing to leave their homes yet again.
Fadi Shafiq Hararah described watching Israeli equipment install the markers.
“(The Israeli army) were equipped with robots, and there was a tank present,” he said.
“We’re packing our belongings to leave. But where are we supposed to go?”
Akram Jaradah told AFP this marks his 16th displacement since the war began in October 2023.
“I’ve been displaced 16 times — from one street to another, from one city to another,” he said.
“This Yellow Line means the (Israeli) army will constantly be present in the area, posing a danger to us.”
The Israeli military confirmed to AFP it was simply marking the Yellow Line.
“It was not expanding it in any way,” the military added.
The Wall Street Journal reported Israel had sent reinforcements and installed water points along the line.
Israeli military declined to comment on these allegations.
Under the truce agreement, Israeli troops should eventually withdraw further than the Yellow Line.
This withdrawal would correspond with progress in Gaza peace process.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem accused Israel of shifting the line westward daily.
“This is a blatant breach of the agreement,” he added.
Hamas issued a statement Saturday accusing Israel of “escalating violations” of the ceasefire.
The movement cited the yellow line’s “daily westward advance, accompanied by the mass displacement of our people.”
Hamas said this contradicted “the agreed-upon maps.”
Both sides have exchanged accusations of ceasefire violations since Wednesday. – AFP
