Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Ahlam Shimali has witnessed the mass exodus of people fleeing the conflict and seeking refuge in Rafah, the southernmost district of the territory.
Rents have surged, leading to overcrowding in small apartments, and tent camps have sprung up in open areas. The scarcity of food and fuel has forced people to resort to burning old clothes and book pages to survive.
“What would happen to us if there were tanks, clashes, an invasion and an army?” said Ms. Shimali, 31.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.2 million people are now sheltering in Rafah, many of them after Israel told them to flee south to avoid the war farther north.
Israeli officials have hinted at targeting Rafah in their campaign against Hamas, raising concerns about the safety of the civilian population.
The Israeli government has not specified evacuation plans for the civilians currently seeking shelter in Rafah.
Aid groups, the United Nations, and officials from the Biden administration have warned of the catastrophic impact of an Israeli attack on Rafah, given the high population density and the potential for civilian casualties.
The overcrowding has strained the area’s resources, and newly displaced Gazans continue to arrive as fighting persists in the city of Khan Younis to the north.
“It is very bad; the hygiene level is very low,” said Fathi Abu Snema, 45, who has been sheltering with his family in a United Nations school in Rafah since early in the war.
He feared that many would die if Israel invaded Rafah, especially since people had nowhere else to go.
“I prefer to die here,” he said. “There is not one safe place to go in Gaza. You could get killed anywhere, even in street.”
Rafah sits along the border with Egypt, although very few Gazans have been allowed to leave during the war, mostly because Egypt, and many Gazans themselves, fear that if they leave, they will never return to Gaza.
That leaves few options for people like Sana al-Kabariti, a pharmacist and skin-care expert.
She fled to Rafah from Gaza City, where both her home and her clinic have since been destroyed, giving her little to return to, she said.
Even if the war were to stop soon, she expects there would be little interest in her skin-care services, since people would be focused on trying to rebuild their homes and lives, she said.
“I am worried about my future in Gaza,” said Ms. al-Kabariti, 33. “I really need to leave the strip.”
Iyad Abuheweila and Abu Bakr Bashir contributed reporting.
Source: www.nytimes.com