Anguish grips refugees in Rafah: “We are terrified without knowing where to escape”

Tamer Srour, 37, has changed locations up to five times with his three daughters. First they wandered between her hometown, Beit Lahia, and the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. Afterwards, they were pushed to Khan Yunis and, later, to Rafah. “We cannot imagine what it may be like if they are going to move us out of Rafah now,” says Srour in a voice message, like the rest of those consulted —Israel blocks access to the Strip for the foreign press. “You can barely survive in a tent with small children, with planes passing over the sky and thinking all the time that they want to kill us.”

The fear and uncertainty accumulated after 127 days of war are skyrocketing among the population trying to survive in Rafah in increasingly inhumane conditions, as denounced by the United Nations, Egypt and different humanitarian organizations. The Israeli army has announced several times that it is preparing to invade that southern town of the Palestinian enclave bordering Egypt where more than a million people gather. The operation is part of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “combined plan” because, in addition to the military incursion, it provides for an evacuation plan for those hundreds of thousands of civilians that will allow them to put an end to Hamas.

“I am very afraid for my three daughters, for their future, for what is going to happen to them,” says Srour who, along with his family, is one of the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have descended towards the south of the Strip. at the pace of the invasion of Israeli troops since the current war with Hamas began on October 7. “We have been using a plastic bag as a bathroom for four months,” he explains, detailing the conditions in which they have to relieve themselves.

Given the increase in tension, Egypt has reinforced its military presence on the other side of the border, as confirmed by the authorities of that country to the Efe agency. “There is a sense of growing anxiety and panic in Rafah. People have absolutely no idea where to go. Any large-scale military operation in this population can only add another slab to the endless tragedy unfolding in Gaza,” warns on the social network X (formerly Twitter) the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). , according to its acronym in English), Philippe Lazzarini,

Samir Zaqout, deputy director of the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza, doubts the evacuation plan that Israel is talking about. He believes it is something that is doomed to “failure.” “Hamas people have the ability to sneak from one place to another, but civilians cannot do that. “This is all a joke,” he explains, referring to what for him, without a doubt, are “war crimes.” “What will Israelis find that they haven't already found in Khan Younis or elsewhere?” he asks.

Rafah is the last plot that the military has left to occupy in a territory where the dead already exceed 28,000, according to data updated this Saturday by the Palestinian health authorities. Up to 117 – 17 of them in Rafah – lost their lives in the last 24 hours, according to those same sources. Among the attacks carried out by Israel is the bombing of the car in which Hamas members were traveling in Rafah, according to the army. The main target was Ahmed Al Yaqubi, responsible for providing security to senior officials of the Islamist group and who was a senior member of the secret police, according to Israeli authorities. Along with him, two other Hamas members died. “That they attack us in Rafah represents a danger for all the Palestinians who are here. We are all terrified without knowing what to do, what is happening and where to escape,” laments Mahmud Imad, 34 years old.

Humanitarian crisis

Samir Zaqout assures that it is impossible to move the entire population sheltered in Rafah due to the military occupation and the destruction caused throughout Gaza during the war. “This is a disaster. I have no words to describe what is happening. People have nowhere to go,” he points out. He considers himself privileged because he is in Rafah hosted by relatives, but he insists that the majority are in shops, in gardens, on the street… “We live in the heart of a great humanitarian crisis. Everything is lacking here: medicine, food, water, money. Going to the bathroom, with hundreds of people ahead, is an impossible mission and taking a shower is a dream,” he describes.

“Unfortunately, it is extremely hard, but we have no choice but to be evacuated again and move to a new place. They said Rafah was safe, but they are lying. Just a few minutes ago we were attacked and the conditions are getting tougher,” says Mahmud Imad. Imad escaped with 10 members of his family from the north after the first month of fighting towards Khan Yunis, the second town in the Strip and the main scene of the Israeli military operation for weeks. He estimates that a month ago they escaped from there and arrived in Rafah. He complains about how hard it is to get everything, especially food for his children.

“The ground offensive declared by Israel on Rafah will be catastrophic and must not continue,” maintains Meinie Nicolai, director general of the Belgian section of Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “Nowhere in Gaza is safe and repeated forced displacements have pushed the population to Rafah, where they are trapped on a tiny piece of land and without options,” adds this humanitarian organization on the social network Israeli actions in the south of Gaza, in Rafah, indicate that there will be more civilian victims,” said the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shukri, at a press conference in Cairo, the Efe agency reports. Israel will try to move civilians north before assaulting Rafah, Israeli military sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“The only option we have left would be, at least, to be able to return to our homes. Ramadan [el mes sagrado para los musulmanes] is at the doors; [por eso] I appeal to the international community to let us return to our homes. None of the Arab leaders has done anything to stop the war,” laments Srour, the father of the three girls. “Now they want to come here, where we have more than 1.4 million refugees. If they enter, I fear that the tanks will run over the people,” he predicts. Every week UNRWA gives them two cans of beans and two cans of meat, which it considers totally insufficient even for one person. They barely find flour and the price of a kilo of sugar in the local market exceeds 40 shekels (about 10 euros), he adds.

“Our life is extremely hard,” details Majd Abu Qudeh. “We live without gas, without medicine, with very high prices, so that we cannot even access things for the children,” he adds. Abu Qudeh began to escape from the north with a group of ten people, including his children, his sister and his mother. They ended up taking refuge in a school in Khan Younis before having to continue south towards neighboring Rafah, about 10 kilometers away. He says that it is very hard to have to deal with the constant threats from Israeli troops, especially now, when they have announced that they are going to push them “into the unknown.” “We will have to leave everything behind. Our fear now is “what after Rafah?” he asks.

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