A foreign doctor present in the vicinity of Rafah testifies to “Le Monde”
Our journalist Jean-Philippe Rémy, special correspondent in Israel, collected the testimony of James Smith, a foreign emergency doctor operating in the south of the Gaza Strip. He tells the Worldin audio messages, the last hours that have just passed.
“On Monday, several neighborhoods, or “blocks” – according to the terminology in force among the Israeli military forces – were classified as “red zones”. All these places are east of Rafah city. Some of these neighborhoods are very densely populated, they are residential neighborhoods, and naturally they are infinitely more populated [qu’avant les déplacements de population], given that crowds of people came to settle there [au cours des derniers mois], driven out of other parts of Gaza. »
“There are still parts of Rafah that are classified as “green”, but the fear is obviously that they will become “red” very quickly. The strikes have been very intense since Monday. People who flee have this fear of strikes, as happened to them in the parts of Gaza they fled. In the areas designated red, very quickly there were air strikes, artillery fire, and within a few hours, from the afternoon onwards, we saw people fleeing in large numbers. »
“Many people fled towards the West, towards a green zone, and in particular towards Al-Mawasi. It is a sandy area along the coast, which is already full of people who have been displaced from all parts of Gaza. When we drive along the coastal road [le long de l’axe Al-Rachid], we see that there are tents literally all the way to the sea, to the edge of the water; the beach is crowded with people. This was not the case, to this extent, when I was there in December. Now Al-Mawasi is jam-packed with displaced people. On the road Monday, there were probably hundreds of vehicles of all kinds, filled with people carrying with them what remained of their possessions. They were driving north, trying to get out of Rafah, to reach an area to take refuge. »