Confusion over Israel’s dropped leaflets on Gazans with Quran verse

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Gazans have expressed mixed emotions over leaflets dropped on parts of Khan Younis on Wednesday by the Israeli army, which feature verses of the Quran.

The verse itself, “and the flood carried away the wrongdoers”, comes from surat Al Ankabout, a chapter narrating the story of the Prophet Noah, who escaped God’s punishment of sinners by drowning them in a flood.

Amjad Al Fayoumi, a resident of Khan Younis who received the leaflet, said there were “no instructions pertinent to us and whether we should stay here or move elsewhere”.

“It sounds like they were trying to mock us,” he added. “I don’t know who they are trying to refer to with the word ‘wrongdoers’.”

Saleh Al Jafarawi, another Khan Younis resident, told media: “It’s not clear what they mean. Are they trying to employ some sort of psychological tactic?

“It’s silly and trivial of them to use a verse from the Quran, which they don’t even understand the context of, or when it was revealed. They don’t even know what the next verse is.”

Another post on X, formerly Twitter, read: “The Israelis seem to be directing this verse at civilians. Israel wants to deliver a message to the people that they would be lost in the flooding that Hamas’s operation was named after,” a reference to the so-called Al Aqsa Flood of October 7, when the militant group stormed southern Israel.

“But we tell them that this narrative has no impact on us – we’re martyrs to God,” the post added.

The Israeli army rejected media‘s request for comment, though earlier a spokesman did not deny reports that Israeli forces are considering killing Hamas fighters by flooding their underground tunnels.

Displaced Gaza city resident Mshahed Abu Tarabsheh, who is now in Khan Younis, said Israeli attempts at delivering threatening messages to Palestinians in Gaza were falling on deaf ears.

“The Israelis couldn’t reach the resistance fighters, so they took it out on civilians. They want to tell us, the displaced, who lived through two wars – in Gaza city and now in Khan Younis – that Hamas is the oppressor and wrongdoer and that they’re the ones responsible,” she said.