“Netzarim”: Gaza’s Most Beautiful Areas Turned into Desert by Israel by Mohammad al-Naami

In the heart of the Gaza Strip lie vast expanses where no signs of life remain — cities, villages, and refugee camps have all been completely erased. Governmental, service, economic, and medical facilities have vanished without a trace, and hundreds of kilometers of agricultural land have been bulldozed. This is how the Israeli occupation army has turned the areas that make up the “Netzarim Corridor” into desolation. This corridor was established on the ruins of Al-Zahra city, the village of Al-Mughraqa, the village of Juhr al-Dik in central Gaza, and the southern neighborhoods of Gaza City, such as Sheikh Ajlin, Al-Nabulsi, and parts of Al-Zeitoun and Tel Al-Hawa neighborhoods.

… Destruction was not the only hallmark of the Netzarim Corridor — also referred to by Palestinians as the “Corridor of Death.” Scattered bodies of martyrs, in skeletal form or completely decomposed with only clothes remaining, were found throughout the area.

… “Since the withdrawal from central Gaza and until the war resumed, I’ve been going to the Netzarim area daily to collect firewood. Every day we’d find many bodies and bones — some headless — and we even found human remains in a barrel in Al-Mughraqa village. This proves the brutal executions the occupation carried out against displaced people.” Dhiab confirmed that many bodies are still buried under sand, explaining that Israeli vehicles would cover them to shield soldiers from the effects of decomposition. He also said he had frequently encountered human bones while digging for tree roots.