Terrified Palestinians tell VG: - We have nowhere to flee
By VG.NO - Human Synthesis - 08 May 2024
Original VG.NO - Kyrre Lien - Silje Lien Sveen - 07.05.24 at 20:33
Israeli tanks have rolled into Rafah. The area is packed with refugees, and the UN warns of a massacre. - We are terrified of fear. We don't know where to go.
Khaled, the father of two, writes this in a message to VG on Tuesday morning. He and his family have been displaced to a tent in Rafah, and now they fear that Israel will invade this area as well.
On Tuesday morning, the Israeli Defense Forces published images of tanks at the Palestinian border crossing at Rafah in Gaza.
Israeli flags have been hoisted.
Around 1.5 million Palestinians have been internally displaced to Rafah since the war began, and the area has been described as one of the safest places in Gaza.
But now the war is getting closer there too.
- There is hunger, we are thirsty, there is not enough emergency aid and we do not know if we will wake up alive, says Khaled.
He and his family have been displaced to Rafah, where the family now lives in a tent.
- We do not know of any other safe places. Now we don't know where to go. We are lost, he says.
The UN has previously warned of a massacre and great civilian suffering if Israel invades Rafah.
Satellite images show the area has been overrun by tents with Palestinians:
The EU, China, Turkey and Egypt have come up with strong reactions to the fact that Israel has moved into Rafah despite the warnings from a united international community.
- I'm afraid this will lead to many deaths, to many civilians dying, no matter what they say. There are no safe zones in Gaza, says EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell to the press on Tuesday, NTB reports.
What is happening in Rafah and why is it important?
Who is involved in the conflict?
What is the background?
What does the world community say?
Are there any negotiations?
The desperate situation is shared by Mohammed Quidaih (30), who is located close to Rafah.
- I don't know where to go, he writes in a message to VG.
He is from Khan Younis but had to flee his home to Rafah further south. For almost five months he has lived in the tent camp here, together with his mother, father and several of his siblings.
Mahmoud Ahmed Al-Abse (40) fears what will happen to his family.
They have been on the run for half a year, and have seen how their home was bombed.
He sends over pictures of the house before and after the war started.
Now they have fled to Rafah.
- It is packed with people here in Rafah because they have been displaced.
They have prepared to flee if the Israeli tanks arrive, but do not know where to go. Fleeing north to the area Israel has wanted is not relevant for them.
They therefore want to flee to Egypt, but it is an expensive affair that they cannot afford.
- We have no idea where to flee to, he says.
This is where the Palestinians must flee:
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