People who have already been repeatedly displaced by war describe their plight as they seek safety elsewhere in Gaza
Under a blazing summer sun, tens of thousands of Palestinians fled Israeli bombardment and clashes with Hamas militants in Rafah on Friday, choking roads with donkey carts, bicycles, pickup trucks, and wheelchairs.
More than 150,000 people have now left Gaza’s southernmost city since receiving warnings on Monday from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of an imminent military operation, with most moving after airstrikes and fighting intensified later in the week.
Among those fleeing on Friday was Iyad Jarboa, an acting instructor and theatre director who left his home in eastern Rafah on Thursday with his family to seek safety in the city of Khan Younis, 6 miles away.
“We have been suffering since the beginning of the war, but these last nights were the most difficult of all, with bombing of all kinds everywhere and none of us able to sleep,” said Jarboa, 45.
“I was worried that my children and my wife would be killed, but also that if we left it too late, we would never escape.”
His brother, sister-in-law, and aunt have all sustained serious injuries during the conflict.
“We only have two wheelchairs, so I have to carry one of them on my back and so it would be impossible to move at all if the situation worsened,” Jarboa said.
There had been no panic, humanitarian officials in Rafah said, just huge numbers of people packing whatever they had in preparation for yet another move. Many have been displaced many times as they have fled successive Israeli military offensives across Gaza.
A million people who sought shelter in Rafah, after fleeing fighting or after their homes were destroyed, turned the small city of 300,000 into a sprawling, overcrowded encampment.
One aid official said: “There are a lot of people on the move today and continued bombardments … It’s all orderly, with people tidying up after themselves.”
Dr Marwan al-Hams, the head of the health emergency committee of Rafah, said on Friday morning that nine people had been killed and 10 injured in the preceding 24 hours.
Also on the road was Adeeb al-Saka, 37, a lecturer at Gaza University, with her four children. Her destination was al-Qarara, just north of Khan Younis, an area that is within the recently expanded “humanitarian zone” designated by the IDF.
“Our neighborhood is under heavy bombardment. I’m going to al-Qarara because there is no space anywhere else. I have heard there is no water, no electricity and no internet where we are going, but there we have no other options,” Saka said.
In recent weeks, more aid has reached Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing as Israel eased acute shortages of food and water, with prices for some basic necessities dropping to prewar levels.
Since the IDF captured the Rafah crossing, which remains closed, prices have soared. Sugar costs between seven and 10 times more. Though the Kerem Shalom crossing is open, it is too dangerous for aid agencies to collect supplies crossing from Israel.
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