Gaza Strip – Thousands of people are fleeing the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip as Israel intensifies its offensive in the region. The situation has become dire for many displaced individuals, with Yasmin Yasen, one of the many exhausted people, saying, “The situation is scary, with all the shelling – the children are scared. We have no place left to stay.”
On Wednesday, Israel’s military announced it had taken control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt. This move comes as Israel deepens its incursion into Rafah, a city where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. The recent surge in violence has resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians.
Over the past three weeks, nearly a million Palestinians have fled Rafah due to the ongoing offensive. Many of these individuals have already been displaced multiple times during the nearly 8-month-old war in Gaza, which aims to dismantle the militant Hamas group but has caused widespread devastation and brought the territory to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
Zeiad Abu Hatab, another displaced person, expressed the profound exhaustion felt by many, stating, “We don’t have the means to live in our own places, so imagine what it is like for us with this being our third displacement. We are spent and we cannot take war any more.”
The crisis has been exacerbated by a decrease in the supply of food, fuel, and other essential items reaching the U.N. and other aid groups responsible for distributing them. Palestinians, who relied on humanitarian aid even before the conflict, are now largely left to fend for themselves to secure basic necessities.
Despite Israeli authorities allowing more private commercial trucks into Gaza, resulting in increased availability of fruits and vegetables in markets and some reduction in prices, many homeless Palestinians cannot afford these goods.
According to the Health Ministry, Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of approximately 36,000 people.
