The bombardment of Gaza City reached new intensity Tuesday, with residents describing the deadly strikes as an “earthquake that would never stop.”
According to media researcher Sahweil, the situation was described as "catastrophic" after the dead and injured from the night's bombardment were transported to the al-Shifa medical complex.
“Even when the bombings are not right next to us, we can clearly hear them, and the ground shakes beneath us with the intensity of the explosions,”
said Fatima al-Zahra Sahweil, 40.
But while she struggled to decide what to do to best safeguard her four children, she had lost sight of the most recent news.
The Israeli-designated "escape" route to the south, the Rashid coast road, was congested with desperate and weary people. Anyway, the expense of a ride was too exorbitant.
“On top of that, I don’t own a tent to give us shelter, and they are too expensive to buy. I would not be able to take all of the belongings and supplies I have already bought several times before,”
Sahweil said.
“Then there is the suffering we would face in searching for water and the lack of empty spaces to stay in. So if I leave, I would simply be going into the unknown.”
The family has been uprooted by the war, just like over 90% of Gaza's population. The vast majority have had to relocate multiple times. Sahweil has previously experienced 19 displacements with her family.
The Israeli army is now urging the estimated 1 million people taking refuge in Gaza City to relocate south again as a ground offensive is underway. However, Sahweil, her family, and numerous others have visited the south and know it is not a safe haven from violence.
“It didn’t feel like life at all,”
she said of her time in southern Gaza earlier in the war.
“Living in a tent with insects, rats, sand, the heat of summer, the cold of winter, and the rain, it was an unbearable period. There is not a single day without bombings and deaths in the south, even in the so-called humanitarian zones that the army declared. So, would I just be running from death to death? What difference would that make?”
It is impossible to calculate the odds of survival with so many facts unknown. Her instinct is to stay put.
“Human nature seeks stability, where you can lean against a solid wall and feel at home,”
she said.
“A piece of fabric is not a house: it does not give you safety, nor the feeling of a home.”
The same situation is being faced by 32-year-old photographer and filmmaker Yousef al-Mashharawi, who has two girls and a son. Taking refuge with relatives in Gaza City's Nasser neighborhood, the hazards of staying are obviously increasing sharply, but it's hard to say when staying became riskier than going into the unknown.
“The fighter jets and helicopters do not stop firing. Last night was terrifying,”
Mashharawi said.
“The bombing has not stopped for the past six days. Every 45 minutes to an hour, there is a strike very close by, from helicopters or fighter jets or sometimes from artillery.”
“I haven’t exactly ‘decided’ to stay, but the truth is, I have nowhere else to go,”
he said. The family was displaced to southern Gaza earlier in the war and he has no wish to go back.
“The army claimed it was a ‘humanitarian zone’, but that was completely false. It was the opposite. There were always strikes happening there, and they are still happening,”
he said.
“Displacement also takes a psychological toll. No one likes to be displaced. I believe there is no truly safe area in the strip, whether in the north or the south, so we prefer to stay in the north. Death only comes once.”
What are the immediate humanitarian needs in Gaza City?
More than half a million people in Gaza are locked in a state of famine, with extensive starvation and severe malnutrition, especially among children.
Families are going for days without food, markets are almost bare, and prices for essential food items are rising. Gaza's health system is being severely stressed, with almost half of facilities only partially functioning.
There are critical voids in medicines, antibiotics, antihypertensives and medicines for chronic conditions that can only undermine care. There are rising outbreaks of infectious diseases, acute respiratory infections and diarrhoea - due to crowding and poor sanitation. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation services has been severely reduced, increasing the risk for waterborne diseases.