Displaced Palestinians forced to move again as Israel continues Rafah operation

(13 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Near Rafah, Gaza Strip - 13 June 2024
1. Various of donkey carts and vehicles loaded with luggage of displaced people leaving
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdul-Azim Abu Rjaileh, Displaced from Khan Younis:
"We have been displaced six or seven times and there is no safe area and I don't see a safe area. We did not sleep at night because of the shooting and airstrikes and the shells that they fire. As you can see we move from one place to another. We are not seeing a safe area. They tell us about safe areas and we don't see a safe area."
3. People collecting their luggage to evacuate
4. Various of man dismantling his tent to evacuate
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hussein Arja, Displaced from east Rafah:
"The night before was very difficult. There was shelling and clashes so it passed. Then we said (we would go) the first thing in the morning and since 6 a.m. I have been dismantling but I don't know where to go."
6. Various of people dismantling their tent
7. Various of donkey cart loaded with luggage and leaving
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bassil Kudeih, Displaced from Khan Younis:
"There is no place that is safe. What can we do and where should we go? As you witnessed overnight there was very, very intense shelling without any warning. What can we do? We are preparing to leave now but we don't know where to go. To safe areas? There is no safe area. In the Gaza Strip there are no safe areas at all."
9. Various of people collecting their luggage before evacuating
10. Various of people collecting their luggage
11. Various of tents displaced people use it as shelter

STORYLINE:
Gaza displaced sheltering near Rafah on Thursday said they were being forced to flee again as Israel continued its military operation there.

They used donkey carts and cars, piled high with their precious belongings, to escape and told The Associated Press that they had been unable to sleep overnight because of shelling, airstrikes and gunfire in the Rafah area.

Those leaving the area said they aimed to make it to Khan Younis and areas in central Gaza in the hope of finding a safe place to live there.

Israel has declared the Khan Younis portion of Muwasi a humanitarian safe area and it has attracted thousands of displaced, many of them living in tents and makeshift shelters.

In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli army denied any strike in the "humanitarian area" of Muwasi, but confirmed that troops continued “intelligence-based targeted operations” in the Rafah area.

More than 1 million people have fled Israel’s invasion of the southern city, scattering across southern and central Gaza into new tent camps or crowding into schools and homes.

Israel’s war against Hamas has killed more than 37,100 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Israel launched the war after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducted about 250.

AP video shot by Abd Al Kareem Hana
Produced by Wafaa Shurafa

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