Palestinian Analyst: “There Is No Safe Place in Gaza”
Living in Gaza in “normal” times is unbearable. Israel’s siege, bombardment, and forced removal are making it an impossible nightmare for Palestinian civilians, with a million displaced and more than 2,000 killed.
Families who fled their homes take refuge in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza on October 13, 2023. (Boaa Albaz / Anadolu via Getty Images)
On Sunday morning, with Israel on the verge of invading Gaza, Derek Davison of the American Prestige podcast interviewed Tariq Kenney-Shawa, US policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian think tank and policy network. They discussed the horrific human toll of Israel’s assault on Gaza, Israel’s “evacuation” notice, and what the coming days could look like.
Derek Davison
As we’re conducting this interview, Gaza is being subjected to a relentless air bombardment that has killed over 2,200 people at last count, in addition to an Israeli siege that has cut off water, food, electricity, and fuel. At the same time, it feels like Gaza is in limbo waiting for the inevitable Israeli ground invasion. What have you seen and heard in terms of the current conditions in Gaza and people’s expectations for what is to come?
Tariq Kenney-Shawa
What we’re seeing on the ground in Gaza is an increasingly dire situation that is unfathomable to the majority of people reading this. Even before the ongoing siege, in periods of what the international community likes to call “calm,” the conditions Gazans live under have been unacceptable. Remember, Gazans cannot leave the strip without Israeli permission, which is rarely granted. Gaza’s infrastructure has been crippled by repeated Israeli assaults — in 2023 Gazans only got an average of thirteen hours of electricity a day. I can go on and on.
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