2024-05-07 08:03:00
Palestinians ordered to evacuate Rafah describe their fear and desperation
Palestinian civilians leaving east Rafah following an evacuation order from Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) have described their fear and despair to CNN correspondents in the area.
Mohammed Ghanem and his wife pushed strollers full of belongings. Ghanem told CNN: “We no longer have a home. We are going to Mawasi because there is no security with the Israelis. They are killing women and children.”
Ghanem added: “We left because they distributed pamphlets and attacked everywhere without distinguishing between children, adults, military or non-military. I abandoned my house that I have been building for 17 years.”
Another woman from east Rafah said: “The Israelis sent us messages ordering us to leave. We cannot wait.”
One man on a bicycle, Faisal Barbakh, told CNN: “I’m going into the unknown. I feel terrible. I wish one of the people who caused this was walking with us.”
“I’ve been here all my life. My family has been destroyed in seven places. I think it’s the end of life. I can’t think anymore. I have 59 years of life left, all my memories, photos of my children, contract of my house.
Videos from the area showed trucks full of people’s belongings traveling through the streets, which became increasingly crowded as the day wore on.
Two boys, Malek and Yousef, went out alone on bicycles, clinging to their bags. One of them said: “We fled from the Israelis. They warned us and ordered us to evacuate the eastern area. I have my clothes and food in my bag. We are going to our grandparents’ house.”
Many of those who left east Rafah have previously been displaced. One man told CNN: “This is the fourth time I’ve been displaced. From Nuseirat to Khan Younis, then to Rafah, and now another one. I don’t know where I’m going.”
Not all of them were going to areas designated by the Israel Defense Forces as safer places. Baker Al Ma’moun told CNN: “I am not leaving. Where am I going to go? To Mawasi, among the displaced? No, I prefer to stay with my family. Do you want to be displaced with us as in ’48? I will never accept that.”
In Mawasi, a coastal area already crowded with displaced people, some of the new arrivals were confused and uneasy. The streets were full of trucks and donkey carts, among huge piles of garbage.
Mohammad Abu Khamash told CNN: “I came here from Rafah and I didn’t find anywhere to stay. People even say we should leave.” [de aquí]. I swear I don’t know where to go. “They distributed pamphlets and people panicked and started running away.”
Ahmad Safi said he and his family left Khan Younis towards Rafah. “We had to fight air raids that put our lives and our children at risk. We left in search of a small decent life that we can live with our families.”
Safi said he got water every day. “There is no life. It is very complicated. I arrived in Khan Younis and I felt very depressed. It was a city full of life and happiness, but now it is not even worth living in. We are 8 family members. We came we by car from Rafah.
“There is no security anywhere. The Israelis can enter at any time when they want,” said Safi.
Abu Salah said he left Rafah under heavy fire. “There is no security. The security is in my house. The security is moving from one place to another like a cat with its babies, asking for some water and a coupon [de comida]?”.
“There will be no solution as long as we (Hamas) and the Israelis try to defend their positions. There will be no solution. The solution is in the hands of God,” said Salah.
A woman named Maha said that Palestinian civilians were at the mercy of the Israeli army. “They can tell you to go here and they kill you here, or they tell you to go there and they kill you there. They don’t want bail for us.”
“The solution is to end this cause, not just to stop the war, but to have a Palestinian state,” he said.
#news #Gaza #situation