Nahla Jrouwan fled her home in central Gaza in search of refuge in Rafah, just like over a million Palestinians escaping the Israeli military assault. Now, with Israeli shells falling on Rafah, Jrouwan says she will return to the area she fled from, despite there being no safe place there. She is one of dozens of people who residents reported left Rafah on Tuesday following the recent Israeli bombings and airstrikes.
Israel describes Rafah as the "last stronghold" of Hamas and plans to expand its assault there in an attempt to eradicate the group that carried out the attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in 1,200 deaths and over 250 kidnappings, according to Israeli statistics. For Palestinians, Rafah, located at the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, has become a refuge from the Israeli assault that has claimed more than 28,000 lives, according to health authorities in Gaza governed by Hamas.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reports that there are about 1.5 million people in Rafah, six times the population before October 7. Residents reported that Israeli tanks shelled the eastern sector of Rafah overnight, although the expected ground assault does not seem to have begun yet. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that he ordered the military to prepare an evacuation plan for Rafah.
“We are tired of being displaced,” Jrouwan said, sitting in an overloaded car as she hoped for a swift end to the war. "We wish for the war to end quickly, quickly; we are tired of moving from one place to another, we are exhausted. The whole population is tired; I wish the world would support us, look at us with compassion.”
She described the Palestinian casualties as martyrs, saying, "We are tired; our tears are always falling, martyrs, bombardment, destruction, death, hunger, thirst, there’s no food." U.S. President Joe Biden informed Netanyahu that Israel should not proceed with operations in Rafah without a plan to ensure the safety of civilians seeking refuge. Relief officials and foreign governments state that there is nowhere for them to go. Egypt has announced it will not allow a mass influx of Palestinian refugees into its territory.
