Israel publishes block map of Gaza Strip to warn civilians of attack targets

Palestinians run out of a shelled area in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday. Photo: MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

The Israeli military has released a map of the 140-square-mile Gaza Strip, divided into hundreds of small blocks, saying it will be used to announce which areas will be attacked to allow civilians to evacuate safely .

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The move comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed its war against Hamas following a week-long ceasefire in the enclave.

Israel has come under growing global criticism over the high civilian death toll in Gaza, where in less than two months of brutal fighting, more than 15,000 people have died, according to the territory's Hamas-ruled health ministry.

The brochure, an interactive mapping tool that the IDF used to create a map of Gaza, was created by a 37-year-old Ukrainian citizen Vladimir Agafonkin, living in Kyiv.

“I'm glad that any time a tool I helped create can have a positive impact on the world, and preventing civilian casualties is the most important goal, which we need to strive for,” said Mr. Agafonkin.

“I am heartbroken by all the destruction and suffering that the Palestinian people have to endure in the Gaza Strip, but I also understand that there can be no peace in the Middle East while the terrorist group Hamas is still in power.”

But “it is debatable whether Israeli forces are doing enough to prevent [civilian] casualties,” he added.

When Mr. Agafonkin created Leaflet in 2010, he envisioned it as a cartographic a tool that will be accessible to everyone.

But it quickly took on a frightening new meaning when Russia invaded Ukraine last year and people began using it to document Russian war crimes, promote accurate reporting of the war and help coordinate humanitarian efforts in neighboring Romania and Poland.

“Every Ukrainian is concerned about the growing instability in the world, but at the same time this is not at all surprising,” said Mr. Agafonkin.

“Russia is doing absolutely everything possible, to provoke chaos and violence throughout the world,” he added.

“Given that Hamas, Iran and Russia are allies, there is no doubt that this is a coordinated effort. »