MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza left the territory split in half. Israel's military occupied the east, and 2 million Palestinians were squeezed into the remaining areas along Gaza's western coast. In recent months, though, Israeli forces have been pushing deeper into Gaza. NPR's reporter in Gaza, Anas Baba, and NPR correspondent in Dubai, Aya Batrawy, bring us this report.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Arabic).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Arabic).
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: On a small, rickety table under a tent of worn-out tarps, four friends meet for a game of cards.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: They hold tight to this daily ritual - that's played 400 yards from their neighborhood because it's a bit safer here. But each day, as the sun begins to set on the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Al-Shuja'iyya, the men return to their bombed-out homes and hunker down for the night.
ABU AHMED HUMEID: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: That's Abu Ahmed Humeid. He says, you put your hand on your heart and pray to God once evening sets in. He says no one dares to venture out because of the intensity of Israeli shelling every night. He's one of a few dozen Palestinians still living in Al-Shuja'iyya. It's a vast moonscape of rubble and destroyed buildings that was once a thriving neighborhood to more than 100,000 people before the war.
Al-Shuja'iyya now lies under Israeli control in a new so-called orange zone that accounts for 10% of Gaza running north to south. In maps shared with NPR, aid groups say the Israeli military designated this orange zone in March and restricted access to it. Residents of Al-Shuja'iyya say aid groups have suspended operations here and ambulances need Israeli permission to enter. Israel's military did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Random bursts of Israeli tank fire can be heard even in broad daylight, as documented by NPR.
(SOUNDBITE OF TANKS FIRING)
BATRAWY: In the orange zone, Israeli soldiers have erected military posts flanked by Israeli flags and tanks with an eyesight of Palestinians living in the area. NPR's Anas Baba describes what that's like in Al-Shuja'iyya.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: This was one of the busiest neighborhoods in all over Gaza. But today, it's literally a ghost city. There is no life. You can't even indicate if there is people living here. Or even when they walk, I see them, they walk next to the destroyed houses because they are afraid from a bullet. They are afraid from an Israeli tank artillery.
BATRAWY: There are no markers on the ground indicating where the orange zone starts and ends. The U.N. says around 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the ceasefire just in areas of Gaza close to the military's shifting lines of control.
NIVEEN AL-HATTAB: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: Niveen al-Hattab says, there's no life here. Everything is a struggle. The closest source of drinking water is a half hour walk from Al-Shuja'iyya. There are no shops or clinics here, either. Al-Hattab says her 27-year-old daughter was killed when the family was displaced in another neighborhood that's now off limits and occupied by Israel. Her sister was killed in intense airstrikes on Al-Shuja'iyya. They're among the more than 73,000 people Gaza's health ministry says were killed in Israeli attacks in the war.
AL-HATTAB: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: She says, "we don't know how to live, and we're surrounded by danger, but there's nowhere else to go."
Despite a ceasefire on the ground, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the military's push is part of a step-by-step plan to surround Hamas from all sides.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).
BATRAWY: He told an audience in late May that when the U.S.-backed ceasefire with Hamas began last year, Israel controlled half of Gaza and then 60%.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Hebrew).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Laughter).
NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).
BATRAWY: A man in the audience yells, "the next step should be a hundred percent." Netanyahu responds, "first, 70%. Let's go for that. We're hitting them from every direction," he says.
Satellite analysis by NPR last month, based on maps aid groups must now adhere to, indicates Israel is nearly there, with control of at least 65% of Gaza.
Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai, with reporting by Anas Baba in Gaza. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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