Vantage | Will Gaza be Hamas’ human shield or Israel’s collateral damage?

It’s been seven days of the war and some graphs are constantly moving up - like the death toll and the number of strikes. For perspective, here are two figures: in the last six days Israel has fired 6,000 munitions into Gaza, they’ve dropped 4,000 tonnes of explosives. That alone should tell you the scale of the offensive. And the ground invasion hasn’t even begun. What about attacks from the Hamas? They haven’t ended although their intensity has reduced. Border villages in Israel are still coming under attack, including the village of Sderot that we visited earlier this week. Rockets are being fired from the Gaza strip. On Thursday, four civilians were injured, two of them critically. But given Israel’s superior defences, the damage is less. Also, Hamas is said to be saving rockets, they plan to use the stockpile when Israel launches a bigger offensive. Overnight, the Israeli military has fired more than 750 missiles. The IDF says they’re firing every 30 seconds. What does this mean for Gaza? Sheer misery. Watch:

There’s no escape Israel also issued a warning for the people of Gaza yesterday: leave in 24 hours, move to the south of Gaza. But it’s impossible because all of Gaza is small and cramped. The Gaza strip is 41 kilometres long and around 12 km wide at its widest point. It is surrounded by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean. 2.3 million people live on this strip - 1 million of them are children. The strip has seven border crossings of which six are controlled by Israel and one of them opens into Egypt. All of them are closed right now. So basically, ordinary Gazans have nowhere to go, and they are being hit by airstrikes every minute. “I can’t keep up with the numbers of those killed. Why this crime? I say thank God that our martyrs are in heaven. But we are sad, everyone is sad for the people and the loved ones they lost. You are sad about losing your home - but homes can be rebuilt and with one death we will have a thousand martyrs,” says resident of Khan Younis, Mohammed Abu Ola. It’s going to get worse Gaza is picture of devastation. Buildings have been reduced to rubble, there is no electricity, fuel has run out, hospitals are overwhelmed and drinking water is scarce. World Food Programme deputy head of emergencies, Brian Lander, says: “We’re very worried about how this will evolve over time, particularly if the humanitarian situation is not addressed. The people that are seeking shelter and striving to survive in this environment are only going to get worse and worse situations as time goes on”. He’s right. It is going to get worse. Israel’s new ultimatum is like a death warrant for Gazans. They’re being told to move to the south. “The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza city,’ I can zoom in a second, ‘from Gaza city, from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and to move to the area south of Wadi Asa, the river Gaza, as shown on the map,” says Lieutenant Colonel Res. Jonathan Conricus, Israel Defense Forces. A disaster in the making What does that mean? If we look up Gaza on a map, the north of the Gaza strip is the most populated. It includes the Gaza city, the biggest city on the entire strip. Israel wants the entire population of the northern region to move south of Wadi Gaza. Now, Wadi Gaza is a nature reserve and Israel wants the entire northern population to go here. We’re talking about displacing around 1.1. million people. They have been asked to leave their home in 24 hours. That would mean around 40,000 people being relocated every hour. It won’t happen. Plus, how and where will they go? There are bombs falling everywhere, the roads are broken, their homes are destroyed, their family members are hospitalised, how do you move in the middle of all of this? It’s a recipe for what the UN calls “devastating humanitarian consequences”. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, World Health Organisation (WHO) says: “We need a corridor to provide medical services and so on. That is what I would ask for: one, is to protect civilians and second, to provide them with the support they need, be it food, medical services, supplies and the other things they need.” Israel says the evacuations are necessary because they want to reduce civilian casualties. But the Hamas is challenging this, they are calling it Israeli “propaganda” and they’re asking civilians in Gaza to stay put. Basically, there are no good options - the Hamas sees Gazans as human shields and the Israelis see them as collateral damage. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.