The act of evacuating one’s home is extremely emotional. Palestinians have a few minutes to pick up their belongings, important documents, food, water, and to decide where to go. Family memories cannot be carried in a handbag or suitcase. Photo albums and similar personal items must be left behind.
Since October 7th, 2023, Palestinians in Gaza have been constantly evacuating from one home to another. When most homes were destroyed, they then evacuated from one shelter to another and from one hospital to another. During this time, Israel has knowingly targeted schools and hospitals as well as carried out surprise attacks in crowded camps and neighborhoods. Consequently, 1.9 million Palestinians are now displaced.
The act of evacuating one’s home is extremely emotional. Palestinians have a few minutes to pick up their belongings, important documents, food, water, and to decide where to go. Family memories cannot be carried in a handbag or suitcase. Photo albums and similar personal items must be left behind. Even before October 7th, 70% of Palestinians in Gaza were refugees, and it has not been easy to build a home. It takes a generation of hard work to build one, so losing a home feels like losing a family member. For Palestinians in Gaza, it is nearly impossible to accept becoming refugees again. For this reason, many Palestinians choose to stay in their homes although the risk is high and it could cost them their own lives.
In fact, hundreds of Palestinians were killed inside their homes after they refused to follow evacuation orders. Their homes became their graves. The walls of their homes that once provided them with warmth and comfort now stand on top of them. In addition to the emotional attachment to their homes and the refusal to become refugees again, these Palestinians ask a fundamental question: Where do we go?
Israel has started using evacuation orders as a psychological warfare tactic, where orders happen repeatedly in a short period of time and bombings target areas the Israeli army asks Palestinians to move to. The plan of right-wing political parties in the Israeli army to build settlements in the north of Gaza is connected to the continuing pressure on Palestinians in the north to move to the south, a plan that was made impossible by the 500,000 Palestinians who stayed in Gaza City and the north. The following is a look at different evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military over the past week.
On July 1st, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians living east of Khan Younis, approximately 250,000 people, to move to the western part of the city. This “safe” area was then destroyed by Israeli bombs, suggesting that Israel is using psychological warfare, spreading panic amongst Palestinians with no warnings when bombings will start in proclaimed “safe zones.” On July 2nd, the Israeli military said that its operation in Khan Younis had ended, which prompted Palestinians to return to the east of Khan Younis. On July 9th, an Israeli airstrike targeted Al-Mutanabi School in the Awda area in Khan Yunis, killing at least 30 Palestinians and injuring dozens more.
Similarly, on July 7th, the Israeli army ordered Palestinians living in Shujaiya and Altufah neighborhoods to evacuate west or south of Gaza City. On the same day, the Israeli army sent tanks into the areas people evacuated to, leaving Palestinians with utterly nowhere to go. Intense Israeli shelling and bombing targeted these areas. Dozens of Palestinians were killed. Israeli snipers targeted anyone who attempted to return. Palestinians describe that night as “hell on Earth” and some of them spoke of moving to six different places within twelve hours because of intense air strikes. Dozens of families were forced to walk miles to the southern Gaza Strip through the Nitzarim corridor, a military road and checkpoint built by Israel after October 7th to divide Gaza into north and south. Palestinians who made this journey spoke of having dogs unleashed against them and being interrogated before being allowed to cross. On July 10th, the Israeli military dropped leaflets urging all Palestinians in Gaza City and the north of Gaza to move to the south, after summary executions were reported by local family members of those who chose to stay.
Today, the experience of displacement and evacuation has been lived by almost every single Palestinian in the Gaza Strip. The feeling of having to say goodbye to your home, which you most likely will never see again, and having to pack whatever you can carry is something refugees in Gaza are reliving, from the first Nakba until now. The displacement of refugees today is a reminder of the intergenerational trauma Palestinians are facing. Palestinians in Gaza feel that what they are experiencing right now is worse than the 1948 Nakba. The ongoing displacement in Gaza tells us once again that no one should have to put their memories in a bag and leave their lives behind. For this reason, many Palestinians choose to die in their homes over being displaced.
