Source: Satellite image by Maxar Technologies
Up to 1.8 million Gazans — around 80 percent of the population — have been forced to leave their homes since Israel began its bombardment in response to Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7. That number is expected to rise after Israel issued a new evacuation order on Saturday for areas in the south.
Total number of people displaced in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs via HDX
Note: Estimates for the number of displaced people staying outside the shelter system are difficult to obtain and corrected periodically.
Gaza has never experienced so much internal displacement in such a short time. Earlier conflicts forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, but refugee experts said the current war was unprecedented for the number of people displaced within the enclave’s 140 square miles.
With Israel barring most Gazans from leaving and shelters swelling to many times over their capacity, humanitarian aid workers say there is no safe place to go as the fighting continues.
Where displaced people are staying at United Nations and government shelters
Each circle represents the total number of displaced people in shelters within one square kilometer.
Sources: ReliefWeb Response (shelter populations); Israeli military (evacuation zone boundaries)
Note: Shelter locations shown are primarily schools; data for medical facilities and other buildings serving as shelters was not available. Data is as of Nov. 28.
There are at least 14 government and United Nations shelters within the new evacuation zone that Israeli forces announced on Saturday. These shelters had registered more than 68,000 displaced people as of Nov. 28.
“People are sleeping on the streets and sidewalks without any means of protection,” said Yousef Hammash, an advocacy officer for the Norwegian Refugee Council, who fled from his home in northern Gaza in mid-October to stay with more than 40 relatives in a two-room home in Khan Younis. “And people in the shelters are trying to convince themselves that it’s a bit more safe than being in the street.”
“The situation before was unimaginable, and now they want to move people again,” he added.
Palestinians evacuated their homes damaged by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City.
Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
A school in Khan Younis where displaced people have found refuge.
Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times
About 1.4 million Palestinans have found shelter in or outside of Gaza’s schools, medical centers, mosques and churches. The rest — as many as a half a million people — are thought to be staying with relatives and even strangers, often sleeping outside in courtyards or crammed into small apartments.
A majority of the displaced have moved south, as intense air- and ground strikes by Israeli forces have destroyed much of the north, making it unlivable. But…
2023-12-02 17:52:18
Original from www.nytimes.com
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