“When I packed up and left the house, I looked around every corner of the room. “I thought, ‘Will I ever come back to this house?’”
Kariman Masharawi (27), an architect living in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Palestine, told the Washington Post (WP) on the 13th (local time) about his mixed feelings as he fled south with his family. On the first night after leaving the country, Masharawi’s extended family of about 50 people who escaped together slept outdoors. The next day, they moved to an apartment in the southern Lapa area, but there are already 20 to 30 people living in one house, making it difficult to lie down and sleep. He told WP, “The stress and fatigue are so extreme that my head feels like it’s spinning.”
As Israel announced an all-out ground war against the Palestinian armed group Hamas, hundreds of thousands of Gaza Strip residents like Mr. Masharawi fled amid chaos. The day before, the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) issued an evacuation order to 1.1 million Gaza City residents, equivalent to half of the total 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, to leave Gaza City within 24 hours. The Israeli military extended the evacuation order by 6 hours on the 14th and designated two roads as ‘safe refuges’.
Although the 30 hours set by Israel as the evacuation deadline has passed, many residents have not yet been able to move to a safe place. First of all, chaos is occurring as people flock to refuges set by Israel. The roads are crowded with vehicles filled with blankets and mattresses, creating severe congestion. Here, there are also carts pulled by donkeys and people just walking. As residents of the northern part of the Gaza Strip move in large numbers, Khan Yunis, the central city in the southern region, is also overflowing with refugees.
AP NewsisHamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, is preventing residents from evacuating. Hamas Supreme Leader Ismail Haniya said in a Telegram statement on the 13th, “There is no immigration from the West Bank or Gaza Strip. He claimed, “The evacuation order is a propaganda campaign by Israel to vacate the Gaza Strip.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized, “It is extremely dangerous and impossible to move more than a million people from a densely populated battlefield without water, food or accommodation.” As if aware of the concerns of the international community, Israel has not immediately launched a ground war even after the time when the initial evacuation order was issued has expired. Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht said, “We will not set a deadline (for evacuation),” adding, “We know that it will take time to evacuate.”
Although the desperate process of fleeing continues, there are many residents who are unable to leave Gaza City. Elderly patients, pregnant women, and the disabled who have difficulty moving without medical assistance still remain unable to leave their homes. Some people refuse to leave for fear of being attacked while escaping. Ahmed Okal (43), who lives in Gaza City, told WP, “There is no guarantee that civilians moving south will not be targeted by airstrikes. I am scared, but I will not risk the lives of my wife and children on the way south. “He said. Hamas claimed that Israel attacked the refugee procession, killing about 70 refugees and injuring about 200. On the other hand, the Israeli military refuted that it did not fire in the area.
View largerAP NewsisRefugees are flocking to the ‘Rafah Passage’ that connects the Gaza Strip to southern Egypt, but there are concerns that civilian casualties may increase as Egypt blocks this passage. Previously, Israel closed the northern Erez checkpoint and the southern Kerem Shalom checkpoint on the Gaza border, making the Rafah passage the only lifeline for Gaza residents to go outside.
According to the New York Times (NYT), Egyptian authorities are increasing military deployment on the border with the Gaza Strip and are even installing temporary cement barriers. It is reported that the relief supplies gathered here by the international community are not being delivered to the residents of the Gaza Strip.
In the besieged Gaza Strip, water shortages are worsening suffering. As Israel cuts off water and electricity supply, taps across the Gaza Strip are drying up, and residents are unable to use clean tap water. It was reported that medical treatment was virtually impossible due to a power outage at the hospital. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) warned, “There are 5,500 women in the Gaza Strip who are due to give birth within a month,” and “they are unable to receive medical care on time.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.