• Source: Al-Mawasi, Rafah

Al-Mawasi (Arabic: المواصي) is a fertile area for agriculture in the Gaza Strip. It is along the coast and has many sand dunes. Al-Mawasi is fourteen kilometers long and one kilometer wide, making up about 3% of the Gaza Strip. It is a Palestinian Bedouin town and prior to the 2005 unilateral Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip, it was a Palestinian enclave within the Israeli settlements of Gush Katif. Al-Mawasi had a population of 1,409 in the middle of 2006. Prior to the Israel–Hamas war, al-Mawasi had a population of 9,000. It has a number of buildings with a maximum of 100 structures.




Region


Al-Mawasi is known as the "Basket of Food" because of its fertile soil, underground water, and agricultural conditions.




History






= Israel–Hamas war

=



Designation as safe zone

In December 2023, during the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces had designated Al-Mawasi as one of the only safe areas in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people had fled there, and found only a barren strip of land with no basic resources such as food, water, or sanitation. In February 2024, as the IDF announced plans to expand operations into Rafah where hundreds of thousands had come to as a last refuge, Israeli authorities called Al-Mawasi a "safer zone". In an interview with Channel 4 News, Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levi, when pressed to confirm if civilians displaced northwards once more would be safe from further bombardment, stated that "it will not be safe" until Gaza was free from Hamas.
By late-August 2024, the United Nations estimated there were between 30,000 to 34,000 people per square kilometre in Al-Mawasi. Food and water grew scarce as the area became increasingly overcrowded.



Attacks


Two days after the Tel al-Sultan massacre by Israel, in which 45 people were killed, Palestinian officials said Israel attacked al-Mawasi, killing 21 people including 12 women. Israel denied attacking the area. The New York Times published a video of the aftermath of the attack on Al-Mawasi. On July 13, 2024, 90 people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a displacement camp. On July 28, 2024, five people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Al-Mawasi, according to the Gaza Civil Defence. On August 21, 2024, four farmers working near al-Mawasi were reportedly killed by Israeli tanks. On September 10, 2024, 40 people were killed and over 60 are injured in an Israeli airstrike on a displacement camp. On September 13, 2024, 19 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes.




See also


Agriculture in the State of Palestine
May 2024 Al-Mawasi refugee camp attack




References






External links


UNICEF Brings Critical Supplies to the Isolated Children of Al-Mawasi
Al-Mawasi, Gaza Strip: Impossible Life in an Isolated Enclave B'Tselem publication

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Al-Mawasi
• Kegubernuran Rafah
• Subdistrik Gaza, Mandat Palestina
• Al-Mawasi, Rafah
• June 2024 Al-Mawasi refugee camp attack
• Rafah offensive
• May 2024 Al-Mawasi refugee camp attack
• Rafah Governorate
• All Eyes on Rafah
• Tel al-Sultan attack
• 13 July 2024 al-Mawasi attack
• Gaza Strip evacuations
• 2024 in the State of Palestine