Where are Gazans supposed to flee to?

Today is December the 5th and we had another very difficult night. The past two nights have been extremely difficult. We could hear bombing throughout the night and nobody could sleep. The sound of bombing felt worse than usual last night. It was unbearable and we didn’t know if we would make it to the morning. Once we got up some of the people staying in our building said that they had received a text message telling them to leave Khan Younis if they are there as it’s not safe. It’s really becoming more and more mad here. Khan Younis is already in the south and so the only place they can flee to is Rafah. Gazans definitely do not want to flee to Egypt - we don’t know where we are going to end up but it’s becoming more and more difficult for people to live here. 

For the past couple of days we have been talking a lot about safety. People have been saying that the tunnels underground will be filled with water which means the foundations of the buildings will no longer be stable. We don’t know if these are rumours or if it’s true - we’ve been trying to find out and we still can’t decide if it’s true or false. There are rumors about safe or unsafe places in Rafah and ours is not marked as safe. Some people told us that it was mentioned in leaflets thrown by the Israeli army but others say they are old.

Many people have started to flee from Deir Al-Balah in the middle area of Gaza to the south. Now Gaza is separated between the south and the middle in addition to the north. The south includes Rafah and Khan Younis and all the surrounding areas and the middle includes Nuseirat, Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi in addition to  Deir Al Balah. Somehow the Israelis are managing to push people to go to Rafah and now we have started to lose hope of going back home. The idea of returning home is becoming more like a distant fantasy or dream and so our minds are being forced to shift. 

The area where I live now in Rafah is called Al-Jnainah. It’s always been a very quiet place but it isn’t anymore. The number of people has dramatically increased in Rafah and you can tell that when you’re walking in the streets. People are not even looking for apartments, they are looking for shops to stay in. Most of the shops are now closed so many people are now renting them out to live in. 

God forbid if we have to leave and are forced to go somewhere outside of Gaza. I don’t know how we would even do this as we have no form of transportation. I have my car with me but then I don’t have any gas in it. The period of the truce was not long enough to find a place in the long queue to get gas. We tried for three days and we couldn’t manage - it was such a waste of precious time. 

You know before this war I had started doing my MA. I felt so proud and I was over the moon to be a student again. But now I’ve forgotten everything that I had started to study for my course. It’s impossible to think of anything other than survival and securing our basic needs. Since the truce ended, going out to get basic products means risking our lives again. 

A couple of days ago, I received news that my friend  who was killed together with her family has a sister who is still alive and so I got her phone number and I’m trying to get in touch with her to find out which family members survived. I’ve been hearing different things from different people so I want to confirm and double check. Unfortunately I’ve been trying to call for two days and still haven’t managed to get through. So I gave her numbers to friends and we are still looking.

Life is becoming more difficult and I do not know when this will end,

Location: Rafah

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