Palestinians trapped in Rafah: Israeli quadcopters patrol streets, enter homes, open fire on residents

Israeli quadcopters are targeting Palestinians trapped in their homes in Gaza’s southernmost governorate, after the Occupation severed Rafah from the rest of the strip last week by establishing a new military corridor.

Palestinians in Rafah who spoke to Mada Masr described being trapped without food, water or medical aid, surrounded by danger on all sides and under constant quadcopter fire from the Israeli military.

Following the breakdown of the fragile ceasefire on March 18, Israel ordered people in Rafah to evacuate and began establishing new security infrastructure. Those who complied were harassed by Israeli quadcopters and military personnel and subjected to screenings at a newly established checkpoint. Several eyewitnesses told Mada Masr at the time that some men were separated from their families and in some cases executed as they passed through Israeli screenings.

Rescue teams were also targeted by Israeli forces, who massacred 15 medics and rescue workers in the early days of the invasion, the United Nations confirmed.

As of last Thursday, even the deadly journey out of Rafah has been cut off, after Israel established what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dubbed the “Morag corridor.” The Occupation had started deploying forces to control the road linking Rafah to Khan Younis further north at the start of the week, effectively isolating the southernmost city in Gaza. An eyewitness who managed to flee Rafah before the corridor was set up described seeing dozens of tanks, military vehicles and barbed wire lining the Muharrarat route he used to escape.

The mayor of Rafah told Mada Masr last week that hundreds remain trapped in the city.

Abu Khaled, who is trapped in the Tel al-Sultan area of western Rafah, told Mada Masr that he and his family were unable to evacuate before the city was besieged due to the challenges of sudden displacement and his mother’s illness.

He said the family avoids looking out the window for fear of being targeted by the quadcopters constantly flying around their home, recounting how, days earlier, one entered the house and opened fire, wounding his younger brother.

“My brother is slowly dying before my eyes, my mother's, and my children's. And we cannot save him. My mother is sick and cannot move, and I am helpless to do anything.” Abu Khaled said. “We want a safe passage out.”

He added that they are also trapped without any food or clean water.

Abu Khalid’s mother said, “I just want my children to be saved. My youngest son is taking his last breaths. And my eldest son and his children are dying too of terror, hunger and thirst.”

Mada Masr tried to reach other families trapped in Rafah, but many do not have access to phone networks or electricity amid the Israeli attack.

In a statement on Wednesday, Netanyahu described the newly established corridor blockading Rafah from the rest of the strip as “shifting gears” in Israel's plan to pressure Hamas to accept its proposal for a prisoner exchange and a ceasefire, calling it the “second Philadelphi.”

It has been almost a year since Israel moved to seize control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the area separating Palestinian Rafah from Egyptian Rafah. The invasion saw Israeli forces occupy the border facility to control passage in and out of the strip and tear through much of Rafah’s infrastructure at the same time. 

Eyewitnesses who spoke to Mada Masr early in the renewed aggression said Israeli military vehicles opened fire on residents in Rafah neighborhoods, killing and wounding many and forcing thousands to flee, while others were trapped in their homes. Rescue teams that mobilized to help the wounded were also regularly targeted by Israeli forces, they added.

The UN later confirmed that Israeli forces attacked an emergency team dispatched to retrieve the wounded on March 23, killing eight Palestinian medics, six civil defence first responders and a UN staff member. They were found “buried by their wrecked & well-marked vehicles,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

“They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives. We demand answers and justice,” Fletcher said.

The Israeli military spokesperson acknowledged that forces fired on ambulances and fire engines, claiming they had been identified as “suspicious vehicles.”

On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent published a video retrieved from the phone of one of the medics killed. The video shows ambulances and fire trucks moving with their lights on and clearly marked as emergency vehicles. As medics approach a car stopped at the roadside, the camera abruptly cuts off, followed by the sound of heavy, continuous gunfire.

Israel’s renewed offensive was preceded by its repeated delays in moving to the second phase of ceasefire negotiations, which would have entailed the Occupation military’s full withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for the release of male Israeli prisoners. Instead, Israel sought to pressure Hamas into releasing all remaining prisoners without offering any guarantees to end the war. 

Since Israel resumed its genocide in Gaza on March 18, 1,309 Palestinians have been killed and 3,184 wounded by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. 

The ministry reports that, since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 50,669 Palestinians and injured 115,225.