GAZA, (PIC)
The Israeli occupation army forced displaced Palestinians to evacuate the industrial zone that includes several United Nations headquarters in the city of Khan Yunis, where more than 70,000 displaced people from the northern Gaza Strip have sought refuge.
More than a million Palestinians have been displaced from the northern Gaza Strip to the south, as requested by the occupation army in October of last year, and the western areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah were declared safe zones.
The request for evacuation came after the army announced the expansion of the military operation in Khan Yunis, and then targeted a vocational training center at the Khan Yunis International Training College, resulting in the martyrdom of 15 displaced people and the injury of 75 others, according to official UN statements.
Two nights felt like twenty years
Journalist Omar Tabesh recounts a horrifying scene from the tragedy, saying: “My little sister Joudi and I spent two harsh nights on the street in Rafah due to the extreme exhaustion and fatigue I experienced during my journalistic coverage of the siege of Khan Yunis. As for my family, they distributed themselves inside two cars.”
He adds, saying, “Those were the most difficult nights we went through. My little sister Joudi would wake me up all night, crying for being cold. I would hug her to warm her up and reassure her that daylight would come soon, and we would be warmed by the sun’s rays.”
He continues, saying, “My mother, who was crying out of extreme despair, would guard Joudi and me from the stray dogs that were about to attack us and tear our flesh while we were asleep. Two nights passed without shelter or a tent to protect us from anything. We spent them with bitterness and torment. They passed over us like twenty years.”
Moments of horror
For his part, Mohammed, another displaced Gazan, confirms that he experienced unforgettable moments of horror during the Israeli army’s targeting of the industrial zone on Wednesday evening. He says, “I was in a place just a few meters away from the bombing. My children were with me, and I don’t know how we didn’t get hurt! I froze in my place during the bombing, and I didn’t even know how to move. When I regained consciousness, I started searching for my children and wife.”
Mohammed continues, “Every member of my family appears to have lost something, but there are many dimensions to living through these moments of terror. The images of martyrs, the injured, and the blood have affected us. I, as an adult, was deeply affected, so how would children feel?”
He adds that his young daughter, Ranim, now gets scared by any sudden sound, like the closing of a door or something falling on the ground. Literally, any incidental sound startles her. Our lives in the past few weeks have been filled with terror from the sounds of nearby shelling and clashes.
Furthermore, Mohammed pointed out that the recent bombing was not the first on the industrial zone. Displaced people have been martyred and injured before.
Wood and nylon to pitch a tent
On the other hand, Raafat reveals that he managed to leave the industrial zone in the late hours of Wednesday, just a few hours before the bombing. He found a truck on a nearby street and quickly loaded his family and their belongings onto it.
Raafat explains, “I arrived in Khan Yunis during the early stages of displacement and managed to secure a room in one of the corridors of the Industrial College. This is considered an achievement and luxury as it provides us with a place with a door and a window. Currently, I have arrived in Rafah, seeking only survival.”
Regarding his new displacement reality, he says, “I am now on the street in the truest sense of the word. I am currently searching for wood and some nylon to set up a tent that can shelter us from the cold, rain, and wind at night.”
He continues, “I left behind anything that I could do without, and in reality, because of this war, there is nothing that you can truly do without because everything is important and valuable. Most of the time, there is no replacement if you lose it.”
The bodies in the streets are being devoured by dogs
As for Suleiman, he mentioned that he left the industrial zone in Khan Yunis after being threatened by the occupation forces and after hearing the news of evacuation. He added that he had tried multiple times to leave before that but couldn’t due to the lack of any vehicle and out of fear of being targeted.
He further told Arabi21, “This has happened many times during the war. They ask us to leave, then they bomb us and leave the bodies in the streets for the dogs.”
He added, “The recent targeting was in the room next to us, and we lived in terror and fear on a night I will never forget. I will never forget the faces of my three daughters and my wife.”
He pointed out that the crisis in the industrial zone lasted for four days of the siege, culminating in the deadly bombing and then displacement. They were officially instructed to leave through the main gate with their hands raised and only carrying a backpack. He expressed his fear of that situation and walking among tanks and the soldiers’ mood swings.
Suleiman also mentioned another displacement that took place through the back gate where there were no occupation forces.
He explained, “We decided to take this route and managed to go towards the city of Hamad, then we headed to Rafah and then to a temporary tent of one of our acquaintances, and then into the unknown.”
Meanwhile, Aya, Suleiman’s wife, said that she came out among the bodies of martyrs and the injured in the corridors, and she tried to cover her daughters’ eyes to avoid seeing the difficult scenes, but without success. She added, “I swear by God, my heart was pounding.”
Aya stated in her conversation with Arabi21 that “Allah planted strength in us, and He empowered us. I don’t know how we endured! Naturally, I can’t bear the simplest situations of that. Even my 8-year-old daughter Zeina was loudly praying throughout the journey, ‘Oh Allah, Oh Allah, You are generous, Oh Allah,’
