Under the fog of fighting, we do not know the exact location of our soldiers inside the Gaza Strip. One can only assume that 18 years after we left the settlement area there, the forces are arriving or will soon arrive in the areas of the communities that we abandoned as part of the disengagement plan in 2005.
What will they find? Ben Zion Mekeles is a cartographer specializing in deciphering aerial and satellite imagery. In recent days, he has made an accurate comparison between photographs of the settlements since then and their situation from a few months ago. He placed the houses and buildings as they existed before the retreat on the surface appearance as it is today. The research shows what happened in each and every one of the places we left. According to Mekeles' findings, many of the sites that were flourishing settlements were, until the beginning of the war, Hamas training bases.
In the heart of the Sheikh Radwan residential neighborhood: missiles are manufactured in one room and children sleep in the other room // Photo: IDF Spokesperson
"Some of the land remained open, some became farmland, some into schools, some into an amusement park and some into hospitals. But I was shocked by the training camps of the murderous terrorist organizations in areas that were settlements of life," says Mekeles. "Especially in Neve Dekelim are places like synagogues, schools, and council secretaries, which Hamas and others have turned into training facilities. The well-known example is Al-Aqsa University, which is based on the buildings of Neve Dekalim's school and community center."
Mekeles' analysis yields the following findings:
- Tel Katifa - on the Mediterranean coast, a training base for terrorist organizations.
- Shalev – a training area for terrorist organizations.
- Atzmona – an organizational training area. Terrorism, a runway for drones/parachutes
- Kerem Atzmona - a training area for terrorist organizations + a facility for war training in built-up areas.
- Dugit – a training area for terrorist organizations.
- Garden of Light – agriculture + training area.
According to Mekeles' research, agricultural land has been built on the other settlements or is completely abandoned.
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