Situation in Gaza a ‘humanitarian calamity with no safe exits’
More and more Palestinian families are fleeing Gaza City under the threat of Israeli attacks with no guarantees of safety at all.
While we’re here, we met friends, relatives and neighbours, and they told us they spent more than 13 hours to make this difficult journey to the south of the Strip because of the vast overcrowding of roads. People say they’re totally exhausted.
We also met a number of dual nationals still stuck in Gaza who said this is the fifth time they were forced to flee from one area to another under the echoes of explosions and the wide-scale mass expulsion orders issued by the Israeli military.
Everyone on the ground is going through a serious crisis. It is a systematic policy by Israel to control Palestinian land and reshape it. What is still unfolding is a humanitarian calamity with no safe exits.
‘Under the eyes of the world, Gaza City is being destroyed’
We have spoken to Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, about the increasingly desperate situation unfolding in Gaza City and other parts of the Strip amid the intensifying Israeli assault.
Shawa sounded the alarm about an unfolding “humanitarian catastrophe” affecting all Palestinians in the besieged territory, highlighting the effect on tens of thousands of malnourished children.
“I have been in contact with many families that have children who are malnourished and they don’t know what to do,” he told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. “They fled Gaza to the middle area and they don’t know how to deal with that; the clinics are full and there is no space for them to stay.”
Shawa said the goal of Israel’s military operation on Gaza City is “clear”.
“To destroy what has been left in Gaza City; this historical city is one of the oldest seaports all over the world – now, under the eyes of the world, it is under destruction,” he added.
“The Israeli plan is to deport the Palestinians,” Shawa continued. “It’s a very critical moment that we are passing through. They are pushing us for deportation, they will level Gaza and destroy it totally and make it an unlivable place for living.”
Hundreds of thousands flee Gaza City as Israel begins assault
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forcibly displaced from Gaza City as Israel pushes on with its deadly ground invasion.
Here are some images capturing the scale and chaos of Palestinians making the dangerous journey south along the coastal road.
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza because of the Israeli ground invasion, move southward after Israeli forces ordered their mass expulsion
