Palestinians forced to flee in central Gaza tell CNN they would "prefer to go back home and die with dignity"
Donkey carts crammed with blankets, mattresses piled onto cars and thinly-stocked market stalls lined the mud-caked streets of Nuseirat, in central Gaza, on Thursday, through which streams of displaced people were making their way to the nearby area of Deir al-Balah. Many had mixed emotions. Deir al-Balah was supposed to be safer, at least according to instructions from the Israeli military, but living conditions were at best primitive.
Generations of Palestinians were camped out among the rubble of flattened buildings, while others carried their belongings to move further south, as the Israeli military expanded its operations in central and southern Gaza. On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces issued a new series of evacuation instructions to Palestinians, including that “military activities” would be temporarily suspended in the Al-Brook and Jaffa neighborhoods of Deir al-Balah.
Amnesty International has previously warned that the Israeli military's calls to evacuate could amount to “forced displacement of the civilian population,” in violation of international law.
Several of the civilians who had fled to Deir al-Balah told CNN they were too exhausted to flee again – instead wishing they could return home to “die with dignity.” Ramzi Al Jammal, a civilian from Al-Bureij refugee camp, was displaced to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. He has been separated from members of his extended family, including his sons and his grandchildren. "There are no tents, no food, no water, people swarm the storage warehouses, it’s a very difficult situation. I would prefer to die in my house,” Al Jammal said. “I regret leaving my house, I wish we were together so we die together or live together.”
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are living in tent camps stretched along cities in the south, with little access to basic sanitation, food, fuel or drinkable water. Many sleep on the streets with inadequate clothing to keep them warm during the winter season.
But Abdul Rahman, a civilian who has not fled Nuseirat, told CNN that trying to survive in makeshift camps was no better than living among the ruins of central and northern Gaza. “We have no place to go,” he said on Thursday. “There is no space, people sleep on the road. There is no place to sit safely in this area. “There is no water, there is no electricity,” he said. “They bomb and attack us without any alarm … We have nothing to do, we have no food.”
Abu Adnan, a displaced civilian who now lives on the streets of Deir al-Balah, told CNN he wishes he had “stayed at home and got shot.” “This is not life, it’s humiliation,” he said. “I will go nowhere after this, unless I go back to my house.” “I tried to go back home twice but my children pulled me back,” he added. “There are no toilets, no food, no water, no clothes. With all this, I prefer to go back home and die with dignity than dying this way.”
IDF warns Gazans to take western coastal road amid operations in central and southern Gaza.
The Israeli military has warned civilians in Gaza not to use Salah Al-Din street, the main north-south route, as it ramps up fighting in central and southern parts of the territory. Instead, the IDF told Palestinians to travel via Al-Rasheed street, the coastal road to the west.
At least 36 Palestinians were killed in strikes on Al-Mawasi and neighboring Khan Younis on Thursday. Thousands of displaced Palestinians have moved to Al-Mawasi in recent days, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deepened its military operations in central and southern Gaza.
Smoke rises over buildings following the Israeli attacks on Khan Younis, Gaza, on January 4, 2024 
Heavy bombing rocks Rafah in southern Gaza
Rescue workers are searching through the rubble after an Israeli air raid in Rafah, as “extremely loud” blasts reverberate throughout the strip amid heavy bombardment.
“This air strike had flattened a residential building. A number of Palestinians have been injured according to initial reports from the location,” Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Rafah in southern Gaza. “Rescue operations continue as there are still more people under the rubble of the attacked house in the middle and central areas of Rafah.”
Red Crescent says Israel targets family home of medic, at least two dead
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said Israeli forces attacked, in the Maghazi camp, the family home of Anwar Abu Holi, who serves as the director of the Central Gaza Ambulance Center. The PRCS said it pulled two bodies from the building and rescued five injured people “while many others remain under the rubble”.
Israel's "results" in protecting Gaza civilians don't match its stated intentions, US State Department says
The "results" in Gaza on protecting civilians "continue to not match where the Israeli intentions are," US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Thursday. "That's certainly something that we will talk about" in Israel, Miller told CNN.
In his most recent trip to Israel late last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Israeli government understood the need to take specific steps to protect civilians as it prosecutes its war in Gaza. "We have seen them take a number of steps to try to minimize" civilian harm, Miller said, "and we will encourage them to continue to do more."
No shit Sherlock. You have been talking about it for months, what's going to be different this time?
US says it has not ‘seen anything’ to compel change in support for Israel
US law does not allow the transfer of weapons to countries engaged in human rights abuses.
Israel has been accused by leading rights groups of targeting civilian infrastructure in Gaza, as it has displaced more than 80 percent of the territory’s population. Israeli leaders have also openly called for the collective punishment of the territory, and UN experts have warned that Palestinians are at a “grave risk of genocide” because of the war.
But White House national security spokesperson John Kirby says Washington has not conducted a formal assessment into possible Israeli abuses and will not alter its push to supply Israel with bombs and weapons for the war. “I would just tell you that we have not seen anything that would convince us that we need to take a different approach in terms of trying to help Israel defend itself,” Kirby told reporters.
Can Kirby and Miller at least get their stories straight.
British MP calls on foreign secretary to condemn comments by Israeli ambassador
UK Labour Party MP Afzal Khan has penned a letter calling on Foreign Secretary David Cameron to condemn comments from Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, who recently said that “every school, every mosque, every second house has access to tunnels and ammunition” in Gaza.
Asked whether this amounted to a call for the total destruction of Gaza, Hotovely replied “Do you have another solution?”
“This is a clear call for the genocide of Palestinians,” Khan said in a social media post. “I’ve written to the Foreign Secretary, calling on him to condemn this and to take the strongest possible action against the Ambassador.”
More talk of escalation
Netanyahu to US official: Israel wants ‘fundamental change’ on Lebanon border
The Israeli prime minister met with US special envoy Amos Hochstein in Tel Aviv and told him that “Israel is committed to bringing about a fundamental change on its border with Lebanon”, Netanyahu’s office said. Washington has been stressing the need to prevent the conflict from expanding. Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in daily cross-border exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza broke out, leading to the evacuation of communities on both sides of the border.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu told US envoy Hochstein that following the murderous assault of October 7, Israel is more determined, daring and united than ever,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. It added that those among Israel’s neighbours “who do not currently understand this will yet do so very well, in the south, in the north and in all other arenas”.
Yesterday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group is “not afraid” of confronting Israel, pledging to fight a war with “no limits” and “no rules” if Israel attacks Lebanon.
