Gaza City [Palestine], September 14 : Thousands of Palestinians are being forced to flee Gaza City every day amid what has been described as Israel's "indiscriminate carpet bombing" of the area, which continues to kill dozens of civilians daily, Al Jazeera reported. Families are escaping southwards, many towards the overcrowded and repeatedly targeted al-Mawasi camp.
According to the Palestinian Civil Defence, more than 6,000 people left Gaza City on Saturday as Israeli forces maintained their relentless strikes. While some 900,000 Palestinians remain in the city, the number is dropping rapidly.
"Gaza City is being emptied building by building, family by family," Al Jazeera's Hamza Mohamed said. "Soon, what remains might not be a city, just the memory of one," he added.
Those fleeing described conditions of constant fear and displacement. Khalil Matar, a displaced Palestinian moving south, said: "We keep moving. There are sick people with us, and we don't know where to go. There are no safe zones."
Many residents said they had little choice but to follow Israeli evacuation warnings directing them towards al-Mawasi. But reports from the camp, designated as a "safe zone," suggest overcrowding and severe shortages of food, water and shelter.
Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from al-Mawasi, described scenes as "very chaotic" with new arrivals struggling to find space. One displaced Palestinian man told her: "For almost a whole week, we've been trying to figure out a place to shelter in. I have a large family, including my children, my mother and my grandmother. Not only are missiles pouring down on our heads, but famine is devouring us too."
The man added that his family's tent was no longer fit for use after two years and that he had no idea where they would take refuge. "Displacement is as painful as eviscerating one's soul out of the body. We don't know where to take refuge," he said. "I'm taking my family into the unknown."
Journalist Ahmed al-Najjar, displaced to al-Mawasi, stressed the camp was unsafe. "It's called a safe zone, but we have been living here for months and we know for sure that it's not safe," he said. "How can I call it safe when Israel killed and bombed my own sister within this 'safe zone'?"
Al-Najjar recounted being woken by the "cries and horrific sounds of people being burned alive in a nearby tent."
Given the dire conditions, some Palestinians said they were considering leaving al-Mawasi and returning to Gaza City, despite the danger. Among them was Faraj Ashour, a man who lost his legs in an Israeli attack. "I went to al-Mawasi, but the costs were too high ... and it was almost impossible to find a proper spot without paying extra," he said, according to Al Jazeera.
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