Leaflets Dropped in Khan Younis
Anti-Hamas leaflets raise concerns among displaced Palestinians.
On January 5, 2023, Israel dropped leaflets over Khan Younis, a refugee camp in Gaza. Bisan Owda, a well-known journalist, spotted these leaflets near the Nasser Medical Complex. Saying that most of Khan Younis has evacuated to places like Rafah, which are “very crowded”, Bisan is “not feeling okay with this”.
Bisan did not read the leaflet in the video. However, Israeli occupation forces have dropped leaflets before, most notably when giving people in northern Gaza 24 hours to evacuate in October of 2023. Not only would this not be enough time for an evacuation of 1.1 million people, but older Palestinians have been barred from returning to their homes in the past.
Internal displacement is particularly rife within Gaza due to the IDF giving “inaccurate” and “self-contradictory” evacuation orders that are dependent on telecommunication networks. These networks have been inaccessible due to illegal blackouts. Because of the October evacuation, the distribution of these leaflets has many netizens concerned about the safety of people in the area.
One article says that the leaflets say “Hamas is like an owl, it only looks for destruction” in Arabic. This video shows footage of someone reading the leaflet. The leaflet does not appear to contain any information about an upcoming evacuation. However, because Israeli occupation forces given warnings in the form cryptic messages to the people in Khan Younis before, Palestinians and their supporters still remain concerned.
