Rafah Becomes a Ghost Town

There is no longer any place to accommodate refugees in Gaza. They are stranded on the street, hungry, thirsty and lacking assistance.

AFP

Residents of Palestine fled from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip towards Khan Younis on May 6, 2024, carrying their belongings following an ultimatum from the Israeli army to leave Rafah.

RAFAH, THURSDAY — The eastern Rafah district on the southern Gaza Strip, previously overcrowded with more than 1.4 million refugees Palestine has turned into a ghost town since the Israeli ground attack began, Monday (6/5/2024). Life there stopped completely.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees left the district in a miserable condition, hungry, thirsty, and confused about where to seek shelter. "Only God knows where we will step," said Abdullah al-Najar, one of Gaza's residents, to Reuters, on Tuesday (7/5/2024).

For him, this is the fourth time since the Gaza war between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, 2023 that he has moved from place to place to take shelter from the fighting.

Also read: Israel attacks Rafah, the Middle East becomes increasingly precarious

Life has completely stopped in eastern Rafah since Israeli tanks and troops entered. The streets are empty, the market is paralyzed, and Palestinians flee the city even though they have no destination. Residents who are still in Rafah are afraid and threatened with hunger.

"We all feel scared when the invading forces move forward, as has happened in the eastern region, which is now completely empty of residents," said Gaza refugee Marwan al-Masri (35), who is still seeking refuge in Rafah, on Wednesday (8/5/2024) local time.

AFP

Smoke billows after an Israeli bomb attack in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on May 6, 2024.

Suze van Meegen, the Chief of Operations for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Palestine, stated that Rafah District where she lives feels like a ghost town.

Israel has closed the Rafah crossing, the border between Gaza and Egypt, as well as the Kerem Shalom crossing, the border between Gaza and Israel, after four Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack by Hamas last weekend. The closure has disrupted the delivery of food, water, basic necessities, as well as fuel for aid trucks and generators.

Israel has admitted to reopening the Kerem Shalom border on Wednesday (8/5/2024). However, aid supplier institutions to Gaza say that no trucks can enter the Gaza area.

Also read: Israel asks humanitarian organizations to leave Rafah

Trucks allowed to enter from Israel must be unloaded and their contents transferred to trucks in Gaza. No workers in Gaza are able to enter the facilities as it is too dangerous.

AFP/MENAHEM KAHANA

Israeli security forces are on guard near one of the Egyptian trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom border crossing that passes through Palestinian territories on February 6, 2024.

On Monday (6/5/2024), the Israeli military gave an ultimatum to Palestinian residents in Rafah to evacuate to a designated humanitarian zone in Muwasi, a rural area near the Mediterranean Sea coast. However, according to the United Nations (UN), the area is already crowded with around 450,000 people living in cramped conditions. The supply of water and tents is very limited.

Also read: As the Rafah invasion gets closer, Israel asks 100,000 Palestinian refugees to move

Prior to the Israeli ground invasion, over 1.4 million people crowded into Rafah. The city in the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt became their last place of refuge. Other areas in Gaza have already been destroyed due to Israel's blind attacks over the past seven months.

Homeless on the streets

Many refugees in Rafah are exhausted from constantly having to move around and search for new places of refuge from Israeli attacks. Ibtihal al-Arouqi (39), for example, fled from the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, then moved to Rafah, and now has to move again without knowing another place to seek shelter. She and her family have become homeless on the streets.

"We survived under the rubble of our house in Al-Bureij and now, due to the fierce fighting in Rafah, my children and I are on the streets," said Arouqi.

AFP

Palestinian refugees are flocking to leave Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and arriving in Khan Younis on May 6, 2024, carrying their belongings following an ultimatum from the Israeli army to leave Rafah.

The intensification of Israel's shootings and bombings has made the air in Rafah thick with smoke, making it difficult for people to breathe. "The situation in Rafah is chaotic," said Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, medical coordinator for the charity organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Rafah.

People fled with their belongings, mattresses, blankets, and kitchen utensils on trucks in order to escape from east Rafah. Trapped between Israeli attacks from the east, the Egyptian border to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, many people fled from Rafah northward.

Also read: In anticipation of Israel's attack on Rafah, Egypt prepares an asylum in Sinai

A long flow of refugees has been observed for the past three days. They are walking, using donkey-drawn carts, and makeshift trucks to leave East Rafah. A significant number of refugees are heading towards Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, which are the closest areas.

Thousands of tents and shelters are crowded along the Deir al-Balah coastal area. Along the street, people are unpacking goods or selling merchandise.

There is no shelter

There is no adequate place to accommodate refugees. Deir al-Balah is too small, and most of the Khan Younis area has been destroyed by Israel's attacks, while Muwasi, the refugee camp provided by Israel, is inadequate.

The United States, which opposes Israel's invasion of Rafah, said that Israel did not reveal a clear plan to evacuate and protect civilians.

Refugees lack access to clean water and food. Moreover, the temperature is extremely hot, reaching 38 degrees Celsius. The remaining water is dirty, causing acute yellow fever to spread.

"The remaining water quality is very poor. We tested some of the water and the fecal content was very high," said James Smith, an emergency doctor from England who volunteered at the European General Hospital near Khan Younis.

They experience a vicious cycle of malnutrition, infection, damaged wounds, more infections, more malnutrition,

Nick Maynard, a surgeon from Medical Aid for Palestine who left Gaza on Monday, said that two teenage girls who suffered injuries died due to complications from malnutrition.

“They experience a vicious cycle of malnutrition, infection, wound breakdown, more infections, more malnutrition,” Maynard said.

AFP

A Palestinian boy looks at the destruction through the window of a damaged house after Israel's bombing in the Tal al-Sultan Rafah District in southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday (7/5/2024).

Newly arrived refugees at the new shelter location are having difficulty obtaining tents and food due to the lack of aid groups. One of them is Iyad al-Masry and his family.

They are forced to sell their food aid to purchase a tent worth almost 400 US dollars. "We want to eat. We can only wait for God's mercy," said Masry, who no longer has any money or food.

Running out of fuel

Not only refugees, but also hospitals in southern Gaza have only enough fuel for three days due to the closure of the border by Israel. Without fuel, all humanitarian operations will come to a halt.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that the shipment of fuel has been blocked. Israeli authorities control the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

"The border closures continue to hinder the UN from bringing in fuel. Without fuel, all humanitarian operations will come to a stop. Border closures also impede the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza," said Tedros on social media platform X.

Also read: Biden admits US bombs have killed Gaza residents, threatens to stop sending bombs to Israel

"The Rafah military operation is increasingly limiting our ability to reach thousands of people living in terrible conditions without food, sanitation, health services, and adequate security," said Tedros.

AFP

Palestinians amid the ruins of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza after the Israeli military withdrew from there, April 1, 2024.

Until now, hospitals have been targeted by Israel. Israel claims that Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes. These allegations have been denied by Hamas and Gaza health officials.

Also read: Israel's invasion of Rafah, the Great Wall of Ceasefire in Gaza

Israeli tank fire on Wednesday hit about 300 meters from Kuwait Hospital. The attack injured several children.

The Israeli attack on Rafah occurred while ceasefire talks were still ongoing in Cairo, Egypt. Israel stated that the attack on Rafah was important to destroy Hamas.

Israel's attack on Gaza has killed more than 34,800 Palestinian residents. Around 80 percent of Gaza's population, which amounts to 2.3 million Palestinian citizens, have been displaced from their homes. (REUTERS/AP/AFP)