Under a blazing summer sun, tens of thousands of Palestinians fled Israeli bombardment and clashes with Hamas militants in Rafah on Friday, choking roads with donkey carts, bicycles, pickup trucks and wheelchairs.
More than 150,000 people have now left Gaza’s southernmost city since receiving warnings on Monday from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of an imminent military operation, with most moving after airstrikes and fighting intensified later in the week.
Among those fleeing on Friday was Iyad Jarboa, an acting instructor and theatre director who left his home in eastern Rafah on Thursday with his family to seek safety in the city of Khan Younis, 6 miles away.
“We have been suffering since the beginning of the war, but these last nights were the most difficult of all, with bombing of all kinds everywhere and none of us able to sleep,” said Jarboa, 45.
“I was worried that my children and my wife would be killed, but also that if we left it too late, we would never escape.”
His brother, sister-in-law and aunt have all sustained serious injuries during the conflict.
“We only have two wheelchairs, so I have to carry one of them on my back and so it would be impossible to move at all if the situation worsened,” Jarboa said.
There had been no panic, humanitarian officials in Rafah said, just huge numbers of people packing whatever they had in preparation for yet another move. Many have been displaced many times as they have fled successive Israeli military offensives across Gaza.
A million people who sought shelter in Rafah, after fleeing fighting or after their homes were destroyed, turned the small city of 300,000 into a sprawling, overcrowded encampment.
One aid official said: “There are a lot of people on the move today and continued bombardments … It’s all orderly, with people tidying up after themselves.”
Dr Marwan al-Hams, the head of the health emergency committee of Rafah, said on Friday morning that nine people had been killed and 10 injured in the preceding 24 hours.
Also on the road was Adeeb al-Saka, 37, a lecturer at Gaza University, with her four children. Her destination was al-Qarara, just north of Khan Younis, an area that is within the recently expanded “humanitarian zone” designated by the IDF.
“Our neighbourhood is under heavy bombardment. I’m going to al-Qarara because there is no space anywhere else. I have heard there is no water, no electricity and no internet where we are going, but there we have no other options,” Saka said.
In recent weeks, more aid has reached Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing as Israel eased acute shortages of food and water, with prices for some basic necessities dropping to prewar levels.
Since the IDF captured the Rafah crossing, which remains closed, prices have soared. Sugar costs between seven and 10 times more. Though the Kerem Shalom crossing is open, it is too dangerous for aid agencies to collect supplies crossing from Israel.
Aid agencies say they have reserves of fuel for 48 hours, but will then have to shut vital water pumps and bakeries that feed hundreds of thousands of people. Hospitals will be forced to turn off lights, limit the use of incubators and close operating theatres. The cost of hiring a vehicle to move a family, bags and basic supplies a few miles can be up to $400 (£320), and is therefore beyond most people’s means.
Jabr al-Basiouni, 53, has been displaced five times since leaving Beit Hanoun in the north in October with his seven children.
“Rafah does not have many necessities to live any more … Today we will flee again to Deir al-Balah. We could not take all our things because of the high transportation price and the lack of fuel,” he said.
Israeli officials say Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas militants who must be eliminated or dispersed before the Israeli offensive in Gaza can be considered successful.
More than 34,500 people, mostly women and children, have died during the Israeli offensive, which has caused massive destruction of housing, hospitals, mosques and schools across several cities in Gaza. The UN says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine”.
The war began in October when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. Israel says militants still hold about 100 hostages and the bodies of more than 30 others who are believed to be dead.
The IDF has said those displaced from Rafah will receive adequate food, water, shelter and sanitation in the humanitarian zone. Aid agencies describe acute overcrowding, limited and dirty water, almost no sanitation, and inadequate food supplies.
Some families who have recently moved from Rafah have set up tent camps on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea near the central city of Deir al-Balah. Upon arrival, dozens rushed to collect water near a building for Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. More waited in the heat.
“The situation is difficult and continues to worsen,” Wafaa Masarei said as she rested a few belongings: boxes, bags of clothes, pots, mattresses, a plastic jug. Her two children sought protection from the sun under a table and blankets.
Esraa al-Namlla, 30, had left her home in east Rafah with her four children. She uses a wheelchair after having both legs amputated in an airstrike earlier in the war, which also badly injured her husband and two sons.
“Now I don’t know where I will go with my husband and my children … There is no safe place to go to. I feel helpless now … I am unable to do anything for my husband or my children,” Namlla said. “None of our relatives help us or look after us. How will we live in a tent when I cannot go to the bathroom, or even sit on the floor? All the evacuation places are very sandy, with no roads, so how will my wheelchair work?”
Jarboa, the theatre director, said he had told his young children that the family was going on a camping trip.
“They feel happy because they are close to the sea … As for us adults, we are all just waiting our fate.”
