Conflicts
Search for bread and water – refugees in southern Gaza
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening. photo
© Hatem Moussa/AP/dpa
After the brutal terrorist attacks by the Islamist Hamas, Israel is massively attacking the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to the south at the behest of the Israeli army.
Abu Ahmed and his family arrived in the Rafah refugee camp in the south of the country three days ago Gaza Strip arrived. “The situation is bad and getting worse. Two people share a bed and there are few blankets,” said the 60-year-old, who otherwise lives near Beit Lahia in the northern part of the coastal area.
On the day of their arrival, the Palestinian relief organization UNRWA gave everyone a loaf of bread, a box of meat for two people and a kilo of dates for ten people. Now he is looking for bread. Ahmed fled with five of his children, their wives and 17 of his grandchildren.
The Palestinian is one of around a million people who have responded to Israel’s call to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations. For more than a week, Israel’s air force has been attacking targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the terrorist attacks by the Islamist Hamas that left more than 1,400 dead. Since then, 2,750 Palestinians have been killed, according to the local health ministry, which reports to Hamas.
Ground offensive expected in the Gaza Strip
The army has repeatedly called on the civilian population to flee from the north of the narrow coastal strip to the south. A corresponding escape corridor would not be attacked at certain times, it was said. The army is expected to begin a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip soon.
People in Rafah stand in long lines in front of bakeries and in front of the toilets of the United Nations aid centers and mosques. Hundreds sit on the sidewalks of main streets staring at their phones, searching for information about their families and the homes they have left behind.
Imad Saidam and his family are currently sleeping on the floor in front of an overcrowded UNRWA school. Saidam reports that the hygienic conditions are poor. There is no water to flush after going to the toilet. “We left everything behind, the house and the memories,” says the Palestinian. “We escaped death, but where we are now there is no life either.”
Supply cut off
The coastal strip, roughly the size of Munich, has been completely sealed off for days. The supply of fuel, water, food and medicine to the more than two million inhabitants is cut off. Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday that Israel would restore water supplies in the south of the Gaza Strip. According to the Interior Ministry, no water came out of the pipes in Gaza until Monday afternoon. According to residents, the price of a bottle of water has already doubled due to the shortage.
According to the army’s findings, the Hamas terrorists are hiding in tunnels under houses and in civilian buildings. The military accuses Hamas of using the civilian population as a protective shield and preventing them from fleeing to the south of the Gaza Strip. However, according to eyewitnesses, Hamas quickly gave up its attempts to stop the people.
Ten days ago, terrorists acting on behalf of Hamas carried out a massacre of Israeli civilians in border towns and at a music festival. It was the worst bloodbath in Israeli history. More than 1,400 people died during and in the following days. Palestinian militants also abducted at least 199 children, women and men into the Gaza Strip that day, the Israeli army said. These include at least ten German citizens.