GAZA, (PIC)
As northern Gaza suffers under the intense and ongoing Israeli genocide for 18 days -one of the most severe and brutal in contemporary human history- many residents have been forced by the occupation to choose between death or displacement southward. Many have opted to stay, as fleeing to other areas only means dying from bombardment, disease, and hunger.
The Palestinian Information Center spoke to many Gazans who were forced to flee from their homes in northern Gaza or the city of Gaza. They all agreed that the decision to displace was wrong, as they were killed and starved in the southern regions just like in northern Gaza. The entire afflicted Strip is under bombardment, siege, and starvation.
Although the Israeli occupation army is committing horrific acts of murder and crime in northern Gaza, citizens there are determined to stay, refusing to repeat the mistake their families made by fleeing to the south. They have pledged to thwart the occupation’s nefarious plans aimed at emptying their areas and ending resistance there, paving the way for Jewish settlement or declaring them closed military zones.
The occupation army has forced thousands to flee from northern Gaza under bombardment and killing in recent days; however, they chose to head to Gaza City and refused to go south.
In the south, they yearn to return
Returning to the devastated areas of northern Gaza is a dream cherished by its residents, who expressed deep regret over their decision to flee. They confirmed it was made in moments of weakness and fear for their children, wanting to protect them from the flames of war and bombardment. Yet, they were shocked to find that bombing, killing, and Israeli terrorism pursued them wherever they went. Many were bombed and annihilated in their displacement areas in southern Wadi Gaza.
Bilal, a teacher, told our correspondent: “My decision to flee was the biggest mistake I made. We’ve been here (southern Gaza Strip) for a year, dying daily, starving, and living a miserable tent life. We fled out of fear for our children and families.” He noted that the occupation army pursued them in southern Wadi Gaza, and they experienced displacement time and again, being drained both materially and spiritually.
The teacher dreams of returning to his destroyed home in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, saying: “I long for Gaza City and its streets, its sea. We are here among our people, but our return there is a dream that must be realized.”
Displacement stations
At the beginning of their displacement, the teacher, with his family, headed to Khan Yunis, their first stop, and then to Rafah when the occupation began its major incursion there. After the invasion of the city at the southernmost tip of the Strip, they fled to Deir al-Balah, describing what happened as a dirty conspiracy and unending pain. “I wish we hadn’t fled; we escape from death here every day while the world watches.”
He describes his day during displacement, saying: “I wake up in the morning to the sound of airstrikes snatching the lives of people from their homes, and I sleep at night to the sound of rubble falling on the displaced, followed by the cries of the bereaved.” Faced with this kind of life, the teacher says, “It feels as if we’ve fallen victim to a dirty conspiracy in a chain of unending pain, deceived into believing that death does not approach safe areas.”
The occupation forces have launched thousands of airstrikes on the region, claiming it is humanitarian, resulting in thousands of martyrs and injured people.
We will return and rebuild it
Zayed Al-Far, a teacher in government schools in Jabalia, told our correspondent, “Not a minute goes by that I don’t dream of returning to my camp in Jabalia, which I left with a heart torn apart. We will return to it despite the occupation’s will, and we will rebuild it and restore it as our homeland despite our tragedies.”
Zayed feels that when he left his camp in Jabalia it was as if he has separated from his soul. He acknowledges it was a decision made out of necessity, but he insists that if those days were to return, he would not leave his camp, even if they bombed houses over their heads. He explains that the occupation has left them no safe place in all of Gaza.
He emphasizes that bombardment and death chase them everywhere, making it difficult to secure food, drink, and clothing amid starvation and siege. They have been drained both materially and spiritually.
He continues that his dream is to remove the dividing line between southern and northern Gaza, so he can see the areas he lived in the north, promising to kiss the soil of Jabalia, which is now soaked with the blood of innocents killed by Israel day and night in a horrific genocide.
I will return to my beloved Gaza
Mohammad Mahna, a lawyer who traveled to Egypt during the opening of the Rafah crossing, told our correspondent, “When will the Rafah crossing open? I will return to my beloved Gaza, the land we love and that loves us, the land we die for. I will return to it despite everything happening. They are trying to force us to hate it, but they are mistaken. We love it and cherish it more each day. Gaza is wounded, it is ours, and from it, we will fulfill the greater dream of returning to our occupied villages (in 1948 Occupied Palestine).”
Mahna says, “Gaza has a strange magic; the poor there are at peace, and the sick feel reassured. Gaza holds blessings in everything, and there’s comfort in stability there that I haven’t found outside.”
He asserts that the first decision he will make upon the opening of the Rafah crossing is to return. “We will heal Gaza’s wounds and restore it as it was and even more beautiful; we will build it in the most beautiful way. It will be the phoenix that rises from the ashes with the help of its beloved ones.”
He adds: “When I left Gaza for Egypt seeking safety, I thought I would find comfort and stability. But there is nothing more beautiful and dearer to my heart than Gaza, the city that defies strangers and fights for its dignity and power.” He confirms that the occupation will fail and disappear, and Palestine will return to its people, no matter how long it takes.
