Fearing an imminent Israeli ground offensive, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes in eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points west and south in the war-torn territory.
The government voted earlier this month to conquer Gaza City, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims is Hamas’s “last true fortress.” The plan has sparked international outcry, mass protests in Israel and renewed efforts at reaching a ceasefire.
Israel said recently that it would resume allowing tents and shelter gear into the enclave in preparation for the evacuation of civilians from Gaza City, where an estimated 1 million are sheltering.
“I am heading south because I need to ease my mental state,” Mousa Obaid, a Gaza City resident, told Reuters. “I do not want to keep moving left and right endlessly. There is no life left, and as you can see, living conditions are hard, prices are high, and we have been without work for over a year and a half. It is very, very difficult.”
Ahmed Mheisen, Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, a war-devastated suburb abutting eastern Gaza City, said 995 families had departed the area in recent days for the south.
With the Israeli offensive looming, Mheisen put the number of tents needed for emergency shelter at 1.5 million, saying Israel had allowed only 120,000 tents into the territory during a January-March ceasefire.
The UN humanitarian office said last week that 1.35 million people were already in need of emergency shelter items in Gaza.
“Existing tents where people are living [in the south] have worn out and won’t protect people against rainwater. There are no new tents in Gaza because of the Israeli restrictions on aid at the border crossings,” Palestinian economist Mohammad Abu Jayyab told Reuters.
He said some Gaza City families had begun renting property and shelters in the south and moved in their belongings.
“Some people learned from previous experience, and they don’t want to be taken by surprise. Also, some think it is better to move earlier to find a space,” Abu Jayyab added.
Israel denies that there are any limits on the amount of aid entering Gaza, but has placed restrictions and additional security checks on non-food equipment over fears it could be used by Hamas. COGAT, the Israeli body which deals with Gazan aid, said this week that the equipment will be sent via the Kerem Shalom Crossing following a “thorough security inspection” by Israeli authorities.
Israel’s plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home, where hundreds of thousands of Israelis on Sunday held some of the largest protests since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining 50 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack. At least 20 hostages are believed by Israel to be alive.
With Israel already holding 75 percent of Gaza, the IDF has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger the living hostages and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.
Dani Miran, whose son Omri Miran was taken hostage on October 7, said he feared the consequences of an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City. “I’m scared that my son would be hurt,” he told Reuters in Tel Aviv on Monday.
The planned offensive spurred Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire mediators to step up efforts to forge a deal between Israel and Hamas, and a Hamas official said on Monday that the group had approved the latest ceasefire proposal.
Hamas has responded positively in the past, while proposing amendments that are unacceptable to Israel. Israel has accused the terror group of repeatedly obstructing the talks.
Many Palestinians have also been calling for protests, a wave of which occurred earlier this year in Gaza. The demonstrations would demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and call for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive.
A protest by unions is scheduled for Thursday in Gaza City, and people took to social media platforms vowing to participate, which will raise pressure on Hamas.