Israel-Hamas war: Completely cut off - it's impossible to know if Gaza will return to any kind of 'normal

 Nigerianewslite

Israel-Hamas war: Completely cut off - it's impossible to know if Gaza will return to any kind of 'normal'

I know the Gaza Strip pretty well after two decades of visits, but of course I have never lived there or been there knowing I could never leave.

Destroyed buildings in northern Gaza

Image: Destroyed buildings in northern Gaza

I've covered many of the Israeli incursions into Gaza over the years, mainly, it has to be said, from inside the narrow enclave. 

From there I barely glimpsed at an Israeli soldier as they rarely came with intent to move into the main urban areas. That has changed.

Now, from over the border in Israel, Sky filmed tanks and dismounted infantry making their way through the battlefield towards a skyline of smouldering and wrecked towns with Gaza City in the distance.

Armoured personnel carrier heading towards Gaza

Image: Armoured personnel carrier heading towards Gaza

Troops moving towards Gaza

Image: Israeli troops moving towards Gaza

In previous wars when the jets bombed and artillery rounds fell around you, I have to say it was genuinely terrifying, and I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like now for civilians stuck inside Gaza.

This war is different in many ways.

Firstly, the Israeli government has made it completely clear they intend to dismantle Hamas following their brutal attack on 7 October, and that they intend to achieve their objective by going inside the Hamas strongholds and their enormous tunnel network.

They have reiterated to the Israeli people that this will be a potentially long and drawn-out campaign.

29 October 2023, Palestinian Territories, Al -Bureij: A general view of the destruction around Al-Bilal mosque in Al -Bureij camp, following Israeli airstrikes. Photo by: Mohammed Talatene/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

Image: Al-Bureij in Gaza on Sunday

Deadliest of the five wars for both sides

There is another major difference; this is the deadliest of the five wars for both sides.

The thundering noise of Israeli artillery fired from positions near an overwatch location at the border popular with the media is continuous.

At night they're firing into a completely black landscape, the electricity is out in Gaza.

Smoke above Gaza skyline

Image: Smoke above the Gaza skyline

As the explosions hit, the battered skyline of destroyed buildings is lit up by an orange glow, within seconds it returns to pitch black.

Occasionally we can hear the sound of machine gun fire and tanks moving, that's how close the fighting is on the border.

Above us there is a constant hum of drones, and the shriek of Israeli jets moving onto their next target.

Gaza is being pummelled day and night.

Artillery position with communications crane

Image: Artillery position with communications crane in southern Israel

Our colleagues there say communication blackouts have made life even more scary - a sense of being cut off from the outside world spreads through the population like a dark shadow of fear.

And from the other side of the border, it looks completely cut off.

Closed road leading to Gaza

Image: Closed road leading to Gaza

Everything that sustains life is in short supply

The Gaza health system, already inadequate, is barely functioning. Everything that sustains life is in short supply, or simply gone.

The lack of water and electricity exasperates that desperation, and all routes in and out of Gaza are closed.

I know the Gaza Strip pretty well after two decades of visits, but of course I have never lived there or been there knowing I could never leave.

That is a completely different emotional mindset that my friends there were always kind enough to not continuously point out.

It is impossible to estimate even remotely how long it will take to return to any kind of 'normal'.

Maybe it never will. It will certainly not be the same.

National Mosque Land: I’m Not Against Muslims, Says Wike

 Nigerianewslite

National Mosque Land: I’m Not Against Muslims, Says Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has given the executive secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Engr. Shehu Ahmed Hadi, 24 hours to explain the status of the National Mosque and what compensation plan is meant for it.

Wike gave the order yesterday when he received members of the Abuja National Mosque Management Committee led by the chairman and Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar.

He debunked reports making the rounds that his administration was promoting policies that were against certain religious alignments.

Wike said, “The Sultan of Sokoto is one person I have high regard for, I do not just see him as an elder brother, but like a father. Anything that has to do with the National Mosque, for which he is the president, I will always give it support.

“You said Chief Olusegun Obasanjo launched the appeal fund for the support of the renovation of the National Mosque. No government will not support the management of the national monument. We have a role to ensure that worship centres are well taken care of.”

The minister disclosed that those trying to whip up religious sentiment were mischievously doing so to score some cheap political points.

“We are not targeting any religious or ethnic group; we are doing what we can for the good of all FCT residents and Nigerians at large. Do not allow politicians who do not have the capacity to face me in any way to use religion as a weapon against me,” he told the delegation.

According to the minister, as a Nigerian, he has no reason to instigate hate speech against any religious group but to support any that has a genuine cause.

Wike, who said the FCT will not hesitate to support the maintenance of the National Mosque, or the National Ecumenical Centre, having been declared as a national monument, called on religious leaders to preach national unity and peaceful coexistence.

The minister, who reacted to an allegation that he intends to stop cows from grazing in Abuja, said cows should not feed in the city centre where there are only flowers, but outside the city centre where you have grasses to eat.

“I am here as the minister of FCT for everybody, religious group and ethnicity. We may not like change, but change is inevitable,” he said.

Earlier in his remarks, the Etsu Nupe urged the minister to support the maintenance project of the National Mosque, which he disclosed had been stalled for some time now.

He also pleaded with the minister to grant the committee more time to develop plots of land allocated to it by FCTA.