By Quds News Network
Last week, just few metres from yellow-painted concrete blocks which Israeli forces put to mark their latest redeployment line, Shimaa Ali was preparing breakfast for her four-member family: her husband, her two children Amer and Tala, and Zomorroda, their long-time pet cat.
Suddenly, they heard Israeli tanks approaching. Within seconds, the tanks began firing randomly and intensely at the buildings that remain after two years of genocide.
The children started screaming as the tanks had stationed themselves near their partially destroyed home, and bullets penetrated the walls and the plastic sheets the family had put up for protection.
“It was not the first time, nor will it be the last,” Shimaa told Quds News Network from their home in eastern Al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza. The house is located near the so-called “Yellow Line.”
“We live on the upper floor, but because of the Israeli attacks, the stairs were destroyed, so we have no proper way to reach the ground,” she explained.
When Israeli forces approached that day, the family was unable to flee. Neighbors eventually brought them a ladder so they could climb down and escape.
“Within a minute, the forces were near us, and within five minutes we were outside the house while Israeli bullets were about to hit us,” she said.
Shimaa described this as a “run for your life or die game — if you don’t run, or if you don’t have the time, you will be absolutely killed.”
The mother of two said the Israeli forces know the family is inside the house, yet they continue to target it.
“When we leave the house, they stop shooting. When we are inside, they shoot intensively,” she said. “A quadcopter once came and ordered us to leave immediately, but they gave us no time to flee and were shooting at us at the same time.”
What Is the “Yellow Line?
On October 10, 2025, the Israeli forces completed the first phase of withdrawal under the ceasefire deal to the “Yellow Line,” a non-physical demarcation line separating the Israeli occupation forces from certain areas of Gaza, while occupying roughly 53 percent of the Strip.
The “Yellow Line” refers to Israeli-designated military zones and buffer areas inside the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said anyone remaining beyond the yellow line would be targeted without warning.
According to an Israeli map presented under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan, the yellow line extends from south of northern Gaza down to the outskirts of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces remain deployed in the Shejaiya neighborhood, parts of the Tuffah and Zeitoun in Gaza City, as well as in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in the north, Rafah in the south, and along the Gaza coast.
So, the line divides Gaza into two zones: an eastern area under Israeli military control and a western area where Palestinians live, were forcibly displaced to, and are under constant Israeli threat of attacks.
The Israeli forces directly open fire on any Palestinians crossing this “Yellow Line” or even approaching, without prior warning.
Palestinians returning to their destroyed homes amid the ceasefire have been attacked by the Israeli forces near the line.
The Israeli military said it placed yellow concrete blocks to mark the imaginary boundary, a line, for Palestinians, that separates between life and death.
According to the Israeli military Spokesperson, “The marking is being carried out on concrete barriers topped with a yellow-painted post standing 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) above the ground,” adding that concrete barriers are “being placed every 200 meters.”
Israeli military maps indicate the line extends 1.5km and 6.5km (0.9 to 4 miles) inside Gaza from its eastern boundary with Israel and covers roughly 58 percent of the enclave.
During a visit to the Gaza Strip in December, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, said unequivocally that the “Yellow Line” is “a new border line”.
This imaginary line decides which streets and areas are safe and when it’s time to run. According to UN agencies, humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza and satellite images, Israeli forces have been extending the “Yellow Line” into the areas under Palestinian control.
Israel has no plans to withdraw from the “Yellow Line” in the eastern Gaza Strip. This was announced on the “This Morning” program with Ilael Shahar, on Channel 2’s News, last month.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, known as Kan, also reported that Israeli officials consider the so-called “Yellow Line” as a strategic area that will remain under Israeli control.
What Life Looks Like Near the ‘Yellow Line’
Shimaa’s home stands amid the ruins of neighboring houses and ruined lands. As she spoke, the sound of drones could be heard overhead, while tanks were stationed near the yellow-painted barriers.
Tala, Shimaa’s daughter, said she “frequently wakes up to the sound of intense gunfire or explosions. We know it is morning from their daily shooting, at 6 a.m., they start firing.”
At night, the family fears turning on any lights, worried they could be targeted or provoke the forces stationed nearby. “There is no safety in Gaza,” Shimaa said. Her son Amer is also afraid to go to the bathroom in complete darkness, she added, with drones continuing to buzz overhead.
Shimaa said their home is at constant risk, as Israeli forces carry out weekly attacks on people near the line.
Amer always tells Tala not to open the curtains, so the soldiers won’t notice her and target them at any moment. He told Quds News Network that living near the line is like really being in a game: there are rules and instructions you must follow to survive. “We know which areas of the house to avoid, where to hide, and when it’s safe to go to the bathroom or take a quick shower, if we even get the chance,” he said.
Images obtained by Quds News Network from the family show dozens of bullet holes piercing the walls.
Shimaa noted that such living near the line has fueled anxiety, exhaustion and deep trauma for her children.
She said Amer has ear pain from the constant, intense gunfire and explosions nearby. Aid organizations have noted that living near military zones can have long-term psychological effects.
On one occasion, Amer narrowly escaped death when a bullet struck the plastic sheet near him.
Tala, who attends school in the other part of the camp, said she struggles to focus on her studies. “I sleep in fear and wake up thanking God that we are alive. I can’t sleep because of the sounds of drones and gunfire… I wake up exhausted every day,” she said.
The family said that what remains of their home after two years of assault is being destroyed daily by Israeli forces. “The fire damaged the water tank, and now we don’t have water or electricity,” Shimaa said.
When asked if they are always ready to flee, Tala explained that they keep their belongings packed in bags. “Whenever we are at direct risk and see the Israeli tanks approaching, we immediately flee with them,” she said. “We spend about four days in the house and the rest of the week taking shelter elsewhere.”
Amer said, “We don’t even cook. We only have quick meals, sandwiches, because of the risk.”
“We don’t dare to light a fire for cooking or hang out the laundry or open the windows. We just gather in a room that faces west, because the forces are to the east, to protect ourselves”.
“Even Zomorroda, the family’s cat, appears to sense the tanks approaching at least a minute before they arrive,” Tala said, noting that the animal begins pacing, twitching her ears, and staring intently as the sounds draw nearer.
Israeli Violations: No Ceasefire
Since the ceasefire was signed on October 10, Israel has violated it more than 1620 times, with numerous airstrikes, shootings, home demolitions and abductions.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry this week, over 600 Palestinians have been killed and about 1,600 others injured since the ceasefire began.
Among the victims were 292 children, women and elders, and 99 percent of those killed were civilians, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
A total of more than 72,000 have been killed by Israel in Gaza since its genocidal war began in October 2023, the Ministry added.
Israel has also restricted the entry of much-needed aid into the enclave, including shelter materials, medicine and fuel.
According to Amer, 13 years old, “This is not fair. This is not a life. The war has not ended, and Israel is lying to the world.”
19 February 2026
Source: countercurrents.org