'Like Judgment Day': Gaza city civilians flee latest Israeli offensive

Fighting has raged from town to town across the strip since October

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Gaza city and its suburbs were hit by a new Israeli offensive on Sunday and Monday, as tanks advanced into the heart of the city in what some residents said was the strongest attack since the war started.

Towns and neighbourhoods have been heavily bombed throughout the nine-month conflict, leaving Gazans – the majority of them displaced more than once – in perpetual uncertainty over when they will have to flee once more.

Dozens are feared dead in the latest Gaza city battles but emergency teams have been unable to reach the bodies and the injured because of heavy fighting in Daraj and Tuffah in the east and Tel Al Hawa, Sabra and Rimal further west, Gaza's Civil Emergency Services said.

Some parts of Gaza city remain largely empty after Israel warned – amid intense bombing – that the military would fight their way through the area, early in the invasion last year.

The Israelis have since limited how many Gazans can return to their shattered neighbourhoods but several hundred thousand are thought to have returned or fled to Gaza city.

One witness said quadcopter drones were shooting intensively around the universities and industrial area in Tel Al Hawa neighbourhood, south-west of the city.

Many of the injured were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip after the evacuation and closure of Al Ahli Arab Hospital, scene of a catastrophic attack in October.

Mohammed Salman, 25, was receiving treatment at the hospital for injuries but was forced to flee the latest outbreak of fighting.

“When the evacuation order came, people started running, causing a huge commotion. The wounded began fleeing with the help of their companions and the medical staff tried to manage the situation but couldn't.”

His cousin carried him for about 500 metres until they found a vehicle that took them to another area.

“From there, I called my family and they came to take me to their new place of refuge in Jalaa,” he told The National.

Mohammed had a metal plate inserted after being wounded in an attack near Shujaiyya two days earlier.

“We left many injured people and medical staff behind at the hospital, surrounded and unable to leave," he said. "I don't know what happened to them or their fate. All I remember is that it was a very difficult hour, with everyone running, the wounded crying out in pain, and the chaotic situation they were in.”

Hani Al Helo left his home in Gaza city's Daraj neighbourhood, heading to a university in Al Remal neighbourhood to seek shelter.

“When the army suddenly warned us to evacuate, we ran out of our homes without taking anything,” he told The National.

“Early in the night, the shelling was very intense and we heard the sounds of gunfire, reminding us of the early days of the war. Suddenly, after midnight, we found that the army had advanced to the university area, surrounded us with tanks and military vehicles and started killing people in the streets and injuring others.

“We tried to escape from the school, fearing that the army would advance towards it, besiege it and arrest us from inside. After several attempts, I managed to escape from the school with a few other young men.”

He left behind his family, including his wife, four daughters and two sons.

“I don't know what happened to them. I left them because, based on previous incursions, the army does not usually arrest women and children from displacement centres or releases them after a few hours, but they take the men to prisons and torture them.

“The army claimed that it directed us to safe areas, but in reality, it put us in a trap and attacked us to kill and arrest us, committing the most horrific massacres against us.

'Judgement Day'

Zaki Attallah, a 21-year-old Palestinian university student living with his family of eight, also fled his home in Gaza City.

“The shrapnel was flying above our heads," he said. "We felt death was close, to the point where we recited the Shahada with every step we took.”

He described the scene of people fleeing like something from “Judgment Day”.

“There were so many people in the streets, bumping into each other as they ran, children crying, women's faces pale, everyone trying to save themselves and their families.

“We barely made it to the Rimal neighbourhood and sat on the sidewalk until nightfall. We decided to stay on the sidewalk until morning to see what would happen, as we couldn't find a place to shelter us.”

Like many Gazans, his wish is a quick diplomatic solution that would bring an end to the devastation.

“No one is paying attention to us and everyone is bargaining with our suffering,” he said.

“My only concern was to get my mother, sisters and elderly father to a safe place. With great difficulty, we managed to reach the Ghafari area, but we had to stay on the street again.”