Injured Palestinians sit at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli Hospital following an explosion, Tuesday, October 17, 2023. ( AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
In other developments, as cited The Guardian, Famous Palestinian poet and writer Mosab Abu Toha was arrested by Israeli forces while trying to leave Gaza. This news was relayed by his family and friends.
Mosab had already received notification from the United States that he and his family could enter Egypt because one of his children was a U.S. citizen. They were traveling from the north to the south of Gaza, towards the Rafah crossing point, on Sunday 19/11, when he was stopped at a military checkpoint.
“Israeli troops took Mosab when he arrived at the military checkpoint, as he was heading from north to south, in accordance with their orders. The US embassy allowed him and his family to to cross Rafah,” said Hamza, Mosab’s brother.
“We haven’t heard anything from him.”
Mosab’s friend Diana Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization, said: “Her son, born in the United States, was allowed to evacuate several years ago. weeks, but Mosab’s name was not on the list. “
“Finally, they (AS) put his name, that of his wife and his other children on a list, and they waited to come out when it was safe,” Buttu said.
“They were trying to evacuate from the north to the south, when they were stopped at a checkpoint with many other people. They were told to raise their hands to show that they had nothing. Mosab received ordered to drop off his son, then soldiers arrested him, along with many other men, 200 people, his wife said. She has not heard from him since.”
Neither the US State Department nor the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded to this news.
Mosab wrote in magazines New Yorker about his experience of the bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City. Meanwhile, a collection of his poetry published in English in the United States was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award and won this year’s American Book Award.
“He is one of our most prolific writers,” Buttu said. “Published widely at such a young age and receiving awards and honors for her writing, it shows what a great writer she was.”
Laura Albast, a Palestinian journalist, editor and friend of Mosab, said: “He is an extraordinary poet. The poetry he wrote is very easy to understand, but it is also a representation of what happened to us, describing how he rode his bike until he tried to get home when the bombs fell. »
Mosab and his family took refuge in Jabalia, where they learned that their house in Beit Lahia had been bombed. In the article New Yorker published on November 6, it describes his return by bicycle to try to save his book collection.
“I expected to at least find a copy of my own poetry book, maybe near my neighbor’s olive tree, but there was only rubble. Only the smell of an explosion,” he writes.
“Now I stay at home in Jabalia camp, waiting for a ceasefire. I feel like I’m in a cage. I’m being killed every day along with my people. The only two things I can do is panic. and breathe. There is no hope here.
New Yorker reported on its website Monday evening that Mosab’s current whereabouts were unknown. New Yorker said it was joining other organizations in calling for Mosab’s safe return.
INFOGRAPHIC_The Gaza Strip is divided into five governorates (Liputan6.com/Abdillah)
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