Gaza City is Being Destroyed As Civilians Face Expulsion

Every day here is worse than the one before. Displacement camps are overcrowded and filthy. Heat makes the conditions unbearable. Kids are sick with rashes, diarrhea and other illnesses. People fight for water. Trucks can’t get through and families walk long distances just to fill a jerrycan.

And now, entire residential blocks in Gaza City are being warned to evacuate and buildings and mosques are being completely destroyed. Evacuation orders are reaching the neighborhoods where some of us live — Alsahaba, Al Nafaq, Tal Al Hawa. 

A few days ago, on September 5, while passing through the city on the way back from the Middle Area, I witnessed the aftermath of a major building collapse. One of the city’s oldest landmarks, the Mushtaha Tower, an 11-story building in a densely populated neighborhood, had been completely leveled. Dozens of families were suddenly left on the streets with nothing, surrounded by hundreds of displaced people already sheltering in nearby tents. From the vehicle I was in, I saw scores of women, men and children standing in shock and disbelief at the destruction.

This past Sunday, airstrikes hit near our office on Al Thawra Street. And yesterday, we learned the Alsusi Tower — just 400 meters from one staff member’s home — was destroyed. 

Our teams are safe for now, though some live close to the latest evacuation zones. One of our colleagues just shared this note: “A neighbor warned me that tall buildings were being targeted. I looked up at my own building and wondered – is mine considered tall? I laughed, though inside I felt only sorrow. Since then, I’ve been packing, thinking of what to take, how to leave, where to go. My daughter has her Tawjihi [college entrance] exam tomorrow. I try to stay calm and supportive, but inside, all I can think about is keeping her safe.”

The constant bombings, the displacement, the famine now confirmed in the north are exhausting people beyond measure. Many people living here cannot move south even if they wanted to: transportation costs more than $1,000, and overcrowded displacement sites leave no room. So far, since mid-August, the UN estimated that 50,000 people have fled south. Many of them have moved again and again, some more than a dozen times.

In the meantime, we are still working, though the scale is far too small compared to the need. In the past few days, our teams have delivered formula for 3,00+ children, 14,000+ vegetables baskets to displaced persons in three governorates reaching 75,000+ people, 350+ nutritional supplements for pregnant and lactated women, 450+ nutritional supplements for children, 3,000 packs of diapers and 1+ million liters of clean water. Other organizations are doing what they can as well, but not nearly enough aid is being allowed in. Without a ceasefire, respect for international law, and open routes for aid, people will continue to suffer. The suffering I see and live every day is unbearable, and the chance to preserve any life and dignity in Gaza is quickly slipping away.