A group of 20 prominent human rights organisations has issued a statement denouncing the failure of world leaders to act even as Israel’s invasion of Rafah “worsens the humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
The statement said third countries “have the responsibility to urgently act in bringing to an end, and pursue accountability for the grave breaches of international humanitarian law” taking place in Gaza.
Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Jabalia after the Israeli military called on residents to evacuate in the northern Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians sit at their house which was destroyed in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip May 14, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
“This is the fifth time we have been forced to move (...) It feels like we are being killed slowly. Our children are missing out on their life, education, they are experiencing lack of stability, forced displacement, fear. I can’t explain what it feels like living through this for the fifth time. We are paying the price for a war that we have nothing to do with.”
People in Gaza are drained, frustrated and exhausted. They have been displaced more than five or six times. There's a family that literally had to evacuate nine times.
People are tired of being constantly displaced. They’re also feeling hopeless because they know even being evacuated from one place to another does not guarantee they’re going to escape the Israeli air raids.
A Palestinian woman who was forced to flee Jabalia after the Israeli military called on residents to evacuate, in Gaza City in northern Gaza [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]
Israel sent tanks into eastern Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip early on Sunday, after a night of heavy aerial and ground bombardments, killing 19 people and wounding dozens of others, health officials said.
The Jabalia refugee camp was set up in 1948 to house Palestinians displaced after the Nakba or catastrophe, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948. More than 750,000 Palestinians were forcefully displaced, leading up to the birth of Israel in 1948.
In the north of the Palestinian enclave, it was the Gaza Strip’s most populated refugee camp.
A child stands behind barbed wire near a camp housing displaced Palestinians. An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk and be a huge blow to the humanitarian operations of the Gaza Strip, the UN humanitarian office said on Friday
Palestinians travel in an animal-drawn cart as they flee Rafah after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of the southern Gaza city May 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Ruba's story
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"We are today on day 215 of the war, and the attacks do not stop, the situation is heading towards genocide, dispersal, and displacement. We have no shelter, and everything we had has been bombed, and there are no words to describe the magnitude of the collapse we are suffering and the suffering we are going through. We are in danger, and at any moment we may lose our lives."
Ruba's story
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"We ventured out amidst growing tension, carrying a faint hope that we would return to our homes within two or three days, but reality was harsher than we imagined.
On our way, civilian evacuees were subjected to targeted attacks, and innocent victims fell everywhere. We reached Rafah, a city where we knew no one. We began to build our tents amidst the sand and stones, in a desperate attempt to create a temporary shelter..."
"The story began suddenly; we woke up to the sound of deafening rockets and violent explosions shaking the ground. These loud screams haven't stopped until now, and fear ran deep within us with every new roar.
Then came the shocking news: we had to leave our homes immediately and evacuate south towards Rafah. The orders were clear; everything in the north was vulnerable to bombing and invasion."
Dreaming of doing voiceovers for animated films, Sarah Aljamal had started taking voice acting classes.
Besides learning voice acting, Aljamal was doing translations and helping an international charity on disability issues. The 23-year-old was born with a hole in her heart and had do undergo more than 20 surgeries for congenital defects in her bones and joints.
“Some streets look like a ghost town now. We don’t fear death and martyrdom. But we have kids to care for and live for another day when this war ends and we rebuild the city.”
Aref, 35
Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing Rafah on Wednesday [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP]
Palestinians evacuate after Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, southern Gaza, on May 7 [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]