When describing the hell of Jabalia, Ahmed Shaaban's first words were tender. "Our soul is there; our lives and relationships are all linked to the camp. It's our home and our homeland. We knew that those who left would never return," explained this 28-year-old Palestinian on the phone. He had promised himself that he would never leave this refugee camp, the largest in the Gaza Strip, where he had spent his entire life. So when Israel launched its latest attack in the north of Gaza on October 6, Shaaban and 19 of his relatives stuck together. They shared the water they managed to find, "drop by drop," as well as their meager food supplies. They held out for 15 days under bombs and gunfire.

"As death and danger closed in," the young Gazan finally left on Tuesday, October 22. His family split into two groups, "so as not to die all at once." Shaaban fled north, towards the Indonesian hospital, with his parents and youngest brother, aged 15. His uncle left with his family in the opposite direction, and Shaaban has not heard from them since. His story is like a nightmare from which he cannot escape, with "streets strewn with corpses." "Bodies of civilians, women and children," he added. More than 770 Palestinians were killed in 19 days in the Jabalia camp and the neighboring town of Al-Balad, said the Palestinian Ministry of Health, whose figures are verified by international organizations, on October 23.

At the checkpoint set up by the Israeli army on the outskirts of Jabalia, hundreds of people, like Shaaban, were waiting to leave the trap. The men were systematically questioned about their social circles and their neighbors. "Some were detained, blindfolded and hands tied, for eight or 10 hours," said Shaaban. "We were honest; we told them who was working with Hamas and who had no connection with them. I just got slapped around a bit. Those who tried to lie or hide something were beaten."

Jabalia is surrounded by two brigades that have been laying siege to it for over two weeks, while the army has also been issuing evacuation orders to the inhabitants of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, areas even further north, on the edge of the barrier separating Gaza from Israeli territory. "This plan to place the entire north under siege in order to force the population to leave has been implemented far more intensively than anything seen in Gaza to date," said Tahani Mustafa, the Senior Palestine Analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank. Northern Gaza was first invaded by the Israeli army in the fall of 2023. At that time, many of its neighborhoods were methodically destroyed by missiles, bombs, tank shells and bulldozers.

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