In the past two days, a number of things happened that seemingly had nothing to do with each other. At 2:00 a.m. on Monday, the Israeli army stormed al-Shifa hospital, entering with tanks and heavy gunfire and killing and injuring dozens. It was the fourth invasion of al-Shifa since October, resulting in the arrest of over 80 people.
The day before, 13 aid trucks arrived in northern Gaza for the first time in four months without being turned back by the Israeli army or resulting in the massacre of starving Palestinian aid-seekers. People flocking to the UNRWA warehouse in Jabalia refugee camp to receive the aid stood in uncharacteristically orderly lines and patiently waited for the handouts of flour, rice, and other foodstuffs. Many could be seen cheering once the aid arrived, a scene captured by Al Jazeera’s coverage.
But what few people know is that this successful delivery of sorely needed food aid to northern Gaza is what led the Israeli army to launch its deadly raid on al-Shifa Hospital the next day.
The connection between these two events can only be explained by understanding who Israel was targeting in the raid — the now-martyred Faiq Mabhouh.
Mabhouh was the Director of Operations of the Gaza police force, a part of the Gaza government’s civilian administration. Unlike Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, Mabhouh did not operate clandestinely at the start of the war, because he didn’t have to — he was in charge of civil law enforcement. Hamas released a statement after his death confirming that he “engaged in purely civil and humanitarian activity.”
Yet to hear Israeli military spokespersons and the Israeli media, Israel had launched a “precise operation” on al-Shifa to target a “top Hamas operative,” or a “senior Hamas commander,” who the army alleged was planning attacks on Israel.
The attack on al-Shifa was an assassination operation aimed at breaking down civil order in northern Gaza to facilitate Israel’s genocidal project.
Making such brazen claims without evidence to justify attacking hospitals and shelters has been a hallmark of the Israeli army’s conduct throughout its genocidal assault. But the true significance of the attack lies not in its desire to empty northern Gaza’s largest civilian refuge, which houses 30,000 people, but in foiling Faiq Mabhouh’s pivotal role in coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid to starving civilians in Gaza while restoring a semblance of social order to the north.
In other words, the attack on al-Shifa was an assassination operation aimed at breaking down civil order in northern Gaza. It aimed to facilitate Israel’s genocidal project and pave the way for total control over the area without resistance.
The unfolding events of the past few days expose Israel’s intentions of engineering famine and contributing to social breakdown. It reminds us that this is not only a war against Gaza’s resistance but also against its people.
Delivering aid while avoiding another ‘flour massacre’
On March 17, images of pamphlets circulated on social media bearing the signature of the “Palestinian Security Forces” addressed to all civilians in northern Gaza. In order to “ensure the secure arrival of aid” in the north, the notice barred all people from gathering at the Kuwaiti roundabout and Salah al-Din Street, the main entry points through which humanitarian aid reaches the north. In most previous attempts, throngs of starving people gathered at those locations and rushed aid trucks as they arrived.
Israeli forces fired on the crowds many times, killing hundreds of people, most infamously during the “Flour Massacre” on February 29. On occasions where Israel did not mow down the desperate crowds, it stopped aid trucks and turned most of them back, citing spurious “dual use” claims.
Yet what is most remarkable about the circulation of this notice is that the starving people of northern Gaza complied. The aid convoy arrived in Jabalia refugee camp at a UNRWA facility shortly after midnight on March 17, unmolested and to much popular fanfare.