Gaza
Hundreds of thousands have been displaced as even conflict-weary Palestinians fear they are in uncharted territory
There were places in Gaza where Palestinians once felt marginally safer than elsewhere, even in times of conflict.
Urban centers, it was calculated, were better suited to avoid bombing than the peripheries of cities, and the peripheries were safer than the rural areas, which could easily be penetrated by Israeli tanks.
Buildings overlooking the sea, which are vulnerable to fire from Israeli warships just visible on the horizon, should also be avoided, as should the tallest buildings, which Israel often suspects are used as observation points by Hamas.
On Thursday, that message was reinforced when Palestinian residents of the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern region of the Gaza Strip, which had been hit hard in previous conflicts, said Israeli planes had dropped leaflets urging them to evacuate their homes and evacuate to make their way into the city to “well-known shelters”.
“Anyone who is near Hamas terrorists is putting their life in danger,” the leaflets said. “Sticking to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] Following the instructions will prevent you from being exposed to danger.”
However, residents of Beit Lahiya said they were hit by airstrikes before the warnings were sent.
Parts of the Gaza Strip reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes – video
As Palestinians lined up outside bakeries and grocery stores in Gaza on Thursday after spending the night surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods darkened by a near-total blackout, those “rules” no longer applied.
Israel has suspended all deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity to the tiny enclave, while the crossing with Egypt is unusable.
Israel has targeted neighborhoods that were once considered relatively safe, such as al-Rimal in central Gaza City, one of the wealthier neighborhoods. After dozens of airstrikes, it is now littered with rubble and broken trees.
Razan, who was forced to flee her family home in al-Rimal earlier this week, told the Guardian: “There was heavy bombing everywhere. They started with high-rise buildings and then destroyed all areas, including ours, which was considered one of the safe areas.
“It’s full of shops, residential towers and commercial offices. All of them are now turned into ashes and the people no longer have houses.
“I live in the harbor area. A street called al-Rasheed. It is considered one of the safest streets as it houses residential towers as well as many international institutions.
“At 2 a.m. on Tuesday, someone came and told us that the building next to my house was going to be bombed and the area had to be evacuated. We were all panicked and afraid.
“Then, 10 minutes later, [Israel] bombed a building where people who had been evacuated from their homes had sought refuge. This resulted in many deaths and injuries, including three [Palestinian] Journalists.
A Palestinian celebrates near a burning stolen Israeli civilian car in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, on Saturday. Photo: Ali Mahmoud/AP
“When we returned the next day to view our house, all the windows and doors were gone. Our house is uninhabitable.”
It is even tougher in more distant places where there have been heavy fighting in Israeli offensives in the past, such as the towns in central Gaza, where refugees have already crowded into UN schools.
The U.N. said late Wednesday that the number of people displaced by the airstrikes rose 30% in 24 hours to 339,000, with two-thirds of them taking refuge in U.N. schools. Others sought refuge in the shrinking number of safe neighborhoods.
The U.N. humanitarian office said Israeli strikes since Saturday had leveled 1,000 homes and left another 560 housing units uninhabitable, adding that Israel’s announcement of a “full siege” had caused dire water shortages for more than 650,000 people. Sewage systems were destroyed and foul-smelling sewage spilled onto the streets.
At one of the UN schools, 14-year-old Hanan al-Attar said she lost one of her two uncles in the bombing. They were cooking food when the strikes intensified and rushed to safety. Her uncle ran back to get the family some clothes and was killed when their house was hit, she said.
“There is no electricity and no water. We are not happy living at this school. It was more comfortable at home,” she said.
People who have experienced violence in the past speak of a different kind of fear this time. The feeling is that Gaza, as familiar as the enclave is with bombing, is now in uncharted territory.
A man collects belongings after an overnight Israeli shelling in Gaza City. Photo: Momen Faiz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
All of this has translated into rising human costs. According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, 447 children and 248 women were among the 1,417 Palestinian deaths in Gaza so far.
In the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, a group of people stood on the rubble left after a house was destroyed by an airstrike. A mattress, scarlet pillows and pale sheets lay covered in soot and dust among the rubble, sticking out between concrete blocks.
A woman’s body was lifted out in a white sheet and carried on a stretcher through a crowd of men and boys. An elderly woman dressed all in black staggered down an alley, collapsed and wailed with grief.
At another bomb site, six men ran down a street carrying a stretcher carrying the dust-covered body of a man whose limbs were twisted. A woman recognized the body and started screaming.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that the armed forces were “preparing for a ground exercise” should political leaders order one.
Few doubt that a ground attack is imminent or believe that this time the Israeli military will be content to stay largely outside urban centers, raising the prospect of brutal urban warfare.
On Thursday, Palestinians fleeing airstrikes were seen running through the streets with their belongings, looking for a safe place. The pressure from the many people wanting to flee is so great that families are forced to separate as they look for alternative accommodation.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on Thursday. Photo: Hatem Moussa/AP
Lines formed outside bakeries and grocery stores in the few hours they dared to open, as people tried to stock up on food before the shelves were emptied. On Wednesday, Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators.
Drone footage filmed by the Associated Press showed extensive damage in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza following overnight airstrikes. Residents made their way through the rubble as firefighters and rescue workers searched for survivors.
“There was no warning or anything,” said Hashem Abu Manea, 58, who lost his 15-year-old daughter Joanna when a strike leveled his home in Gaza City late Tuesday.
The main martyrs’ cemetery in Khan Yunis was almost full long before the recent outbreak of war put new pressure on the burial sites. Like many other cemeteries in Gaza, there was a sign on the fence that read, “Burials are prohibited here.”
“We can’t wait to bury the bodies in the designated places. We have to bury them in random areas between houses or in empty plots donated by landlords,” said Adel Hamada, a volunteer who helps with burials in Khan Yunis.
Agencies contributed to this article
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