As Israel orders wide new evacuations across Gaza, Palestinians say they are crushed by exhaustion and hopelessness at the prospect of fleeing once again. Many are packing a few belongings and trudging off in search of new shelters.
Some say they just can’t bear to move.
When ordered out of Jabaliya in northern Gaza, Ihab Suliman and his family could only grab some food and blankets before making their way south on March 19. It was their eighth time fleeing over the past 18 months of war.
“There is no longer any taste to life," said Suliman, a former university professor. "Life and death have become one and the same for us.”
Suliman is among the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled temporary shelters since Israel shattered a 2-month-old ceasefire on March 18 with renewed bombardment and ground assaults.
Daunted by the notion of starting over, some Palestinians are ignoring the latest evacuation orders — even if it means risking their lives.
“After one year and a half of war that has exhausted everyone, children and their parents, too, are just worn out physically and mentally,” said Rosalia Bollen, UNICEF’s communication specialist.
For the past month, Israel has blocked all food, fuel and supplies from entering Gaza, and aid groups say there are no more tents or other shelter supplies to help the newly displaced.
On Tuesday, the World Food Program shut down all its bakeries in Gaza, on which hundreds of thousands rely for bread, because it had run out of flour.
Many are fleeing with almost no belongings
Israel’s evacuation orders now cover large swaths of Gaza, including many areas of Gaza City and towns in the north, parts of the southern city of Khan Younis, and almost the entire southern city of Rafah and its surroundings.
As of March 23, more than 140,000 people had been displaced again since the end of the ceasefire, according to the latest UN estimate — and tens of thousands more are estimated to have fled under evacuation orders over the past week.
Every time families have moved during the war, they have had to leave behind belongings and start nearly from scratch, finding food, water and shelter. Now, with no fuel entering, transportation is even more difficult, so many are fleeing with almost nothing.
“With each displacement, we’re tortured a thousand times,” Suliman said.
He and his family found an apartment to rent in the central town of Deir al-Balah. He said they’re struggling, with no electricity and little aid. They must walk long distances to find water.
Fleeing from Rafah on Monday, Hanadi Dahoud said she is struggling to find essentials.
“Where do we go?” she said. “We just want to live. We are tired. There are long queues waiting for bread and charity kitchens.”
During the two-month ceasefire that began in mid-January, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flowed back to their neighborhoods. Even if their homes were destroyed, they wanted to be near them — sometimes setting up tents on or next to the rubble.
They had hoped it would be the end of their displacement in a war that has driven nearly the entire population of some 2.3 million from their homes.
Netanyahu’s delay of the ceasefire’s second phase has crushed hopes for displaced Palestinians in Gaza, prolonging their exile and deepening the humanitarian crisis.
