Palestinians describe their fear and desperation to vacate Rafah
Displaced Palestinians, who left Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip with their belongings following an evacuation order by the Israeli army, arrive in Khan Younis, May 6, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas. (Credit: AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinian civilians fleeing East Rafah following an evacuation order by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described their fear and disbelief to a CNN reporter in the area.
Mohammed Khanem and his wife pushed strollers full of belongings. Khanem told CNN: “We don’t have a home anymore. We go to Mawasi because the Israelis don’t have security. They kill women and children.”
Khanem added: “We left because they distributed leaflets, attacking children, adults, combatants or non-combatants everywhere without distinction. I abandoned my home that I had built for 17 years.”
Another woman from East Rafah said: “The Israelis sent messages ordering us to leave. We cannot stay.”
Faisal Barbak, who arrived on a bicycle, told CNN: “I’m going to an unknown place. I feel very scared. I wish one of the people responsible for this had walked with us.”
“I’ve been here all my life, my family has been destroyed in seven places, it feels like the end of life, I can’t think anymore, I’ve left 59 years of life, all my memories, photos. My children, only God knows how much I’ve tried, it’s Not just my feeling.
Videos from the area showed trucks filled with people’s belongings traveling through the streets, which grew more crowded as the day wore on.
Two boys, Malek and Yusuf, set off by themselves on bicycles, clinging to their bags. One of them said: “We ran away from the Israelis. They warned us and ordered us to evacuate the east side. My clothes and food are in the bag. We are going to our grandparents’ house.”
Many of those who left East Rafah had been displaced before. One man told CNN: “This is the fourth time I’ve been displaced. From Nusirat to Khan Younis, then Rafa, now another one. I don’t know where I’m going.”
Not all were escorted to safe areas by Israeli security forces. Baker Al Ma’moun told CNN: “I’m not leaving. Where am I going? To Mawazi among the displaced? No, I want to be with my family. Do you want to relocate us like in 48? I will never accept that.”
In Mavasi, a coastal area already full of displaced people, some of the new arrivals were confused and disoriented. The streets were filled with trucks and donkey carts amid huge piles of garbage.
Mohammed Abu Qamash told CNN: “I came here from Rafah and couldn’t find anywhere to stay. People are even saying we have to leave.” [de aquĆ]. I swear I don’t know where to go. “They distributed leaflets and people panicked and started running.”
Ahmad Safi said he and his family left Khan Yunis at Rafa’s direction. “We had to endure airstrikes that endangered our lives and those of our children. We left in search of a small dignified life where we could live with our families.”
Safi said that he used to draw water every day. “There is no life. It is very complicated. I came to Khan Younis and I was very depressed. It was a city full of life and happiness, but now it is not livable. We are 8 members of a family. We came by car from Rafah. “I am still in shock about leaving Rafah. “
“There is no security anywhere. The Israelis can enter anywhere and anytime,” Safi added.
Abu Salah said he left Rafa under heavy fire. “There is no security. There is security in my house. Security is moving from one place to another, the cat with her children, begging for some water and a coupon. [de comida]?
“There will be no solution until ours (Hamas) and the Israelis seek to defend their positions. There will never be a solution. The solution is in God’s hands,” Salah added.
A woman named Maha said Palestinian civilians were at the mercy of the Israeli army. “You can be told to go here and killed here, or you can be told to go there and killed there. We don’t need protection.”
“The solution is to end this cause, not just to stop the war, but to create a Palestinian state,” he added.
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