Israeli Forces Opened Fire On Palestinians Trying To Return Home In Gaza During The Four-Day Truce
The Israeli military reportedly killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 11 others trying to travel to northern Gaza, as witnessed by an AP journalist.
As the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas began on Friday Nov. 24, large numbers of Palestinians who had been displaced tried to return to their homes but were shot at by Israeli forces.
The Israeli military reportedly killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 11 others trying to travel to northern Gaza, as witnessed by an AP journalist.
This has been corroborated by an Egyptian official andd numerous eyewitnesses.
A viral video shared on social media showed Palestinians on their way home turning back and fleeing as gunshots ran out.
Israel prohibited Palestinians to enter the north of Gaza during the humanitarian pause, dropping leaflets in southern Gaza to warn the the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering there not to return to north Gaza.
“The area north of the Gaza Strip is a combat zone and it is forbidden to stay there,” an Israeli official wrote on X. “The war is not over and we urge you to obey the teachings and warnings for your safety.”
Kareem al-Nasir, a 30-year-old Palestinian man who tried to return home on Friday morning told the New York Times that Israeli forces opened fire on them and shot him in the leg, leaving him unable to walk.
“They said there is a cease-fire. What cease-fire?” said al-Nasir said. “When we tried to pass, they shot at us and injured and killed us,” he added.
“People wanted to return to their homes. We wanted to go see our relatives, see the martyrs, see our homes,” he added.
The Israeli military would not answer questions about whether its forces had shot and killed Palestinians trying to go home, the New York Times reported.
Regardless, thousands of Palestinians have still braved the risk and returned to their homes, or what is remaining of them, to inspect the damage and recover what they can.
More than 1.7 million Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes since Israel declared war on Hamas on Oct. 7.
Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the humanitarian pause by another day to seven days on Thursday Nov. 29.
