The words make people flee in terror: "Where are we going?

 

The war between Israel and Hamas

The words on the flyers cause people to flee the city in terror

Nivette Dawod

Published 21.32

RAFAH/STOCKHOLM. The nightmare has come to Rafah.

The refugee city is now the next target for Israel's offensive against Hamas.

- We will be exterminated, says Mustafa Hammad, 71.

Israel

Early Monday morning, the leaflets rained down over eastern Rafah.

"Urgent warning", read the headline, written in white on a red background.

The evacuation order was a fact.

An Israeli ground offensive against the southern city of Rafah – to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages – is imminent.

- We must move from one danger to another. We will be exterminated!, exclaims 71-year-old Mustafa Hammad to Aftonbladet's Muhammad Al-Masry.

The evacuation order concerns, according to the Israeli military (IDF), about 100,000 of the nearly 1.5 million Palestinians who made it to Rafah, according to the military's previous instructions.

The IDF states that it has prepared tents, field hospitals, food and water at the Bedouin village of al-Mawasi, located on the Gaza sea coast, which it calls the "humanitarian zone".

- Here, says Mustafa Hammad and shows the flyer.

- There should be peace here, they say.

Aging says it ironically. He knows that's not true. Mawasi has been attacked before.

- Where are we going? Tell us. Death has become a better option than our lives.

 

 

"We are going to move from one danger to another," says 71-year-old Mustafa Hammad, displaying the evacuation leaflet dropped over Rafah by the Israeli military.
"Urgent warning" read the evacuation leaflets dropped over eastern Rafah yesterday.
"We are being exterminated," says Mustafa Hammad, 71 in Rafah.
1 / 3Photo: Muhammad Al-Masry

Like the vast majority of Gazans, he has fled several times since Israel declared war on Hamas following the October 7 terrorist attack.

From Sabra, by Gaza City in the north. To Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. To Rafah, in the south. And soon north again, to al-Mawasi.

- This is what suffering looks like, here we are, what have we done? he pleads from the tent where he has taken shelter.

A tent damaged by the latest rocket attack, as such have also occurred against Rafah. He is sitting on a burnt mattress. Showing his broken wrist and crutch. The fatigue is visible in the eyes.

- We are people, our children are people, why do you treat us like this?

- Save us, please.

 

 

Many of those in Rafah have fled several times during the now seven-month war.
People use donkey carts to flee Rafah, ahead of the ground offensive announced by the Israeli military.
1 / 2Photo: Muhammad Al-Masry

Along the roads in Rafah you can see packed cars and donkey carts.

Mattresses, blankets, sacks, pans, knotted bags.

Whole life.

Ruined people.

37-year-old Hanan stands and cries. Screams sometimes. Incoherent phrases come out of her.

- God help us.

- We don't know where to go.

 

 

37-year-old Hanan stands and cries when Aftonbladet's Muhammad Al-Masry meets her. "We don't know where to go," she says.
17-year-old Hamada Atwa packs up the family's belongings. They will now flee to Khan Yunis.
1 / 2Photo: Muhammad Al-Masry

17-year-old Hamada Atwa purposefully packs up the family's belongings. Tear down tents and collect what can be reused.

- This morning they informed us that we had to leave.

Khan Yunis will be the next refuge, he says.

A city where mass graves were recently found after the Israeli military's month-long raid.

When the sun goes down on Monday evening, a message suddenly comes that brings everything to a halt: Hamas has agreed to a proposal for a cease-fire.

Celebrations erupt in the streets of Rafah.

Shortly thereafter, reports come that Israel has said no.

About an hour later, a message from Muhammad Al-Masry:

"The attack on the eastern part of Rafah begins now".

Since:

"The army advances towards the Rafah crossing".

On Tuesday morning, the IDF announced: "Right now we have operational control over Rafah in Gaza, and we have special forces guarding the crossing".

The nightmare has only begun in Rafah.

 

 

 

People are now fleeing Rafah, which used to be called Gaza's last safe place.
An Israeli tank on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. The Israeli military has stated that it has taken control of the crossing which is "used for terrorist purposes". So far, there is no evidence for the claim of terrorist intent.
1 / 2Photo: Muhammad Al-Masry

 

FACTS

Background

Seven months have passed since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel in what is being called the worst massacre of Jews in modern times.

Over 1,100 people, mainly Israelis, were killed and 240 people were kidnapped. Over 130 of them are still believed to be with Hamas in Gaza.

The military invasion that Israel launched shortly afterwards against the Gaza Strip - with the aim of exterminating Hamas and bringing back the hostages - has been very bloody. By Palestinians it is called a new Nakba, catastrophe, just like the expulsion of Palestinians that took place in 1948 when the state of Israel was established.

According to the Hamas-controlled health department in Gaza, over 34,000 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed by Israeli attacks, the majority of them women and children. Over 77,000 have been injured.

 

The UN has also warned that famine prevails in northern Gaza, and may spread south.

 

 

 

   

37-year-old Hanan stands and cries when Aftonbladet's Muhammad Al-Masry meets her. "We don't know where to go," she says. 

On Monday evening, Israel launched a new offensive against Rafah where the military carried out airstrikes. Local media reported heavy explosions and "non-stop bombardment of residential buildings".
An injured Palestinian first to hospital in Rafah after Israeli bombings. The picture was taken on 7 May 2024. 

1 / 3Photo: Muhammad Al-Masry