Palestinians, who are fleeing southward through Gaza on foot, horse-drawn carts, and overcrowded trucks to escape Israeli air strikes, are sharing stories of fear, despair, and a bitter sense of abandonment.
“Nowhere is safe in Gaza. My son was injured and there was not a single hospital I could take him to so he could get stitches,” Ahmed al-Kahlout, a displaced Palestinian, described the lack of safety in Gaza, with injured family members and a scarcity of medical resources.
“There is no water, there isn’t even salt water we can wash our hands with.”
He had been forced to leave his home to search for basic necessities for his family while “there are bodies filling Gaza’s streets”.
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Another resident, Mariam al-Borno, highlighted the impact of death, displacement, and hunger, prompting her and her children to flee for their lives. Despite seeking shelter at a UNRWA school, some expressed concerns about safety even there. Amid the turmoil, entertainer Alaa Miqdad tried to bring moments of joy to displaced children, while Ismail al-Najjar, who experienced an air strike, expressed anguish and called for justice for the victims.
“Even at UNRWA shelters we can’t find safety,” said one man.
“I’m just searching for a safe place, nothing more, to save myself and my children,” he said.
Outside Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, entertainer Alaa Miqdad gathered displaced children and put on a clown show.
“Despite the pain we are living in and the hurt, we will smile through the pain,” he said.
But Ismail al-Najjar, whose family’s residential compound in Khan Younis in the south was hit by an air strike, was less sanguine.
“I was coming with my horse, I stopped the horse, the aircraft came and fired something … there was bombardment everywhere.”
“It is not just destruction; it is an earthquake … I ask God to take vengeance on the killers of children,” he said.
