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Israeli Withdrawal in Northern Gaza Allows Hamas Security to Redeploy

Smoke over Gaza following Israeli airstrikes on Monday (AFP).
Smoke over Gaza following Israeli airstrikes on Monday (AFP).
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Israeli Withdrawal in Northern Gaza Allows Hamas Security to Redeploy

Smoke over Gaza following Israeli airstrikes on Monday (AFP).
Smoke over Gaza following Israeli airstrikes on Monday (AFP).

The withdrawal of thousands of Israeli troops from diverse areas in Gaza has enabled displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in the northern territories of the enclave.

Israel’s military said earlier that it was withdrawing thousands of forces from Gaza, in the first significant troop pullback since the devastating war began nearly three months ago.

This has permitted the security apparatus affiliated with Hamas to operate in these areas for the purpose of maintaining security.

Despite the Israeli narrative regarding the destruction of the Hamas movement and its capabilities, including the dismantling of its authority, the Israeli withdrawal quickly facilitated the deployment of Hamas security elements.

This included police, intelligence, and other security agencies, to regulate security and the prices of goods available in the markets. Traders had significantly inflated prices.

A member of the Hamas police force in Gaza, who requested anonymity, mentioned that immediately after the withdrawal from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of Gaza, rapid orders were issued for deployment in the streets.

Officers in civilian attire were deployed to prevent any thefts from homes and to control prices of goods being sold in front of shelters, said the member.

An Asharq Al-Awsat correspondent in Gaza confirmed the deployment.

Hamas officers, some of whom were masked and carrying light weapons, questioned drivers of certain vehicles about their possessions and inquired about their movements.

Some even instructed vendors to lower prices of certain goods, such as rice and lentils, to avoid penalties.

The deployment serves as an indicator that leadership and control remain in the hands of Hamas in certain areas in northern Gaza, contrary to Israel’s assertions.

While some displaced individuals have returned, others in Gaza and the north are awaiting the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from areas they still occupy.

However, those who have migrated south face helplessness and powerlessness, as they know nothing about their homes, and the withdrawals do not allow them to return and inspect them.

Israel prohibits all those who have moved south from returning to the north.

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Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
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Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File

The world's only research center on mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease common among farmers, has been destroyed in Sudan's two-year war, its director and another expert say.

Mycetoma is caused by bacteria or fungus and usually enters the body through cuts. It is a progressively destructive infectious disease of the body tissue, affecting skin, muscle and even bone.

It is often characterized by swollen feet, but can also cause barnacle-like growths and club-like hands, AFP said.

"The center and all its infrastructure were destroyed during the war in Sudan," Ahmed Fahal, director of the Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC), told AFP.

"We lost the entire contents of our biological banks, where there was data from more than 40 years," said Fahal, whose center had treated thousands of patients from Sudan and other countries.

"It's difficult to bear."

Since April 15, 2023, Sudan's army has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the northeast African country.

The MRC is located in the Khartoum area, which the army last month reclaimed from the RSF during a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million.

Sudan's health care system has been left at the "breaking point", according to the World Health Organization.

Among the conflict's casualties is now the MRC, established in 1991 under the auspices of the University of Khartoum. It was a rare story of medical success in impoverished Sudan.

A video provided by the global Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) shows collapsed ceilings, shelves overturned, fridges open and documents scattered about.

AFP was not able to independently verify the MRC's current condition.

The center had grown to include 50 researchers and treat 12,000 patients each year, Fahal said.

Mycetoma is listed as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO.

The organisms that cause mycetoma also occur in Sudan's neighbors, including Chad and Ethiopia, as well as in other tropical and sub-tropical areas, among them Mexico and Thailand, WHO says.

For herders, farmers and other workers depending on manual labor to survive, crippling mycetoma infections can be a life sentence.

Drawing on the MRC's expertise, in 2019 the WHO and Sudan's government convened the First International Training Workshop on Mycetoma, in Khartoum.

"Today, Sudan, which was at the forefront of awareness of mycetomas, has gone 100 percent backwards," said Dr. Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, DNDi's head of mycetoma.