We have our backs to the fence and facing the Mediterranean. “Where should we go?” asks Imad, a father of six. That unknown reverberates in the minds of a million and a half Palestinians in Rafah, the last refuge for civilians in the south of Gaza. This week, Beniamin Netanyahu ordered the army to prepare an offensive on the city bordering Egypt, which has quintupled its population since the start of the war.
Since Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza in October, two-thirds of the 2.3 million Gazans have been moving further and further south. Evacuation orders now affect two-thirds of the territory. The majority of displaced people live poorly in Rafah. Those who are lucky have been welcomed by family and friends or have been able to rent housing, but the majority sleep in tents or makeshift homes among the rubble. Everyone depends on humanitarian aid to survive.
They cannot return to the north; to the south, the border with Egypt is closed; To the west, they have the Mediterranean Sea, and to the east is the Israeli army, which periodically bombards the enclave and whose incursion could cause a massacre.
“Where could we go? There is not enough space to accommodate the displaced in Rafah and there is no safe place,” Adel al Haj, who lives in a tent, explained to the AFP agency. UN workers in Gaza report that some displaced people have chosen to move their shelters near the sea, facing the prospect of an assault from the east, but few other security measures can be taken.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that an attack on Rafah “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.” President Joe Biden has warned his Israeli ally that an assault on the city would be “excessive.” “We would not support it,” they say from the White House.
“We are waiting for death. The bombings intensified after Netanyahu's statements,” a displaced person from Khan Yunis told AFP. “I am afraid of the unknown. I don't know where we'll go. It seems that the operation in Rafah is getting closer, because the bombing has increased considerably,” said another Palestinian refugee.
Israeli planes bombed parts of the city on Thursday, according to residents, killing at least 11 people, including several women and children, in attacks on two houses. Israeli tanks also shelled areas of Rafah, raising fears of an imminent assault.
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders reports that the Rafah hospital network is becoming increasingly strained due to the problems that the centers in nearby Khan Yunis have to continue operating, and doctors and humanitarian personnel warn that they have problems providing basic aid and stop the spread of diseases.
A doctor who left Gaza last week described Rafah as a “closed prison” in which fecal matter flows through streets so crowded there is barely room for medical vehicles to pass. “If the same bombs used in Khan Yunis were used in Rafah, the number of victims would double or triple,” Dr Santosh Kumar warned Reuters.
“No war can be allowed in a gigantic refugee camp,” said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), warning of a “bloodbath” if Israeli operations expand. “The extension of hostilities to Rafah could collapse the humanitarian response,” adds the CNR.
The charity ActionAid says a lack of food has led some people to eat grass for animals. “Every person in Gaza is now hungry, and people have only 1.5 to 2 liters of non-potable water per day to meet all their needs,” he explains in a statement.
