Opinion: Nuseirat massacre: Dehumanising Palestinians is the first step towards their extermination

On the morning of Saturday, 8 June, the racist Zionist colonial army carried out horrific massacres in the central governorate, killing at least 274 Palestinian civilians, including women, children and men.

Hours later, they announced that these massacres were a cover to free four Israelicaptives in the Nuseirat camp.

At the time of the massacre, I was visiting the central governorate and heard Israeli bombing everywhere. F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters, artillery and warships were all involved in the random bombing of civilian gatherings. People fled in all directions, not knowing where to go, as there is no safe place in Gaza.

Many of those in the central governorate at that moment had recently fled Rafah after the occupation army dropped leaflets urging residents to evacuate.

READ MORE: Nuseirat massacre: Dehumanising Palestinians is the first step towards their extermination, opinion by Ahmed Abu Artema