The Gazans in Deir Al Balah who prefer to die than flee again

'There is no dignity left anywhere so I prefer to stay here and not move', says Palestinian man displaced six times

A Palestinian youth pulls salvaged items in Deir Al Balah after being forced to leave the area. AFP

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Um Yosef Dadalan, a mother of four, fled Deir Al Balah in the central Gaza Strip for Khan Younis, after the area came under intense Israeli bombardment.

The sudden Israeli displacement order on Sunday meant she and her family had to spend the night on the street. "I couldn’t find anywhere to go," she told The National after leaving to Al Mawasi area.

"I didn’t want to flee but when the bombing got intense I decided to leave because my children were terrified," said Ms Dadalan, 35.

Officials say she is one of more than 250,000 Palestinians who have been forcibly displaced from Deir Al Balah since August 16, when the Israeli army started to issue eviction orders there. But with no place to go and no money, many Gazans are left stranded.

"It’s so difficult to find a place and I haven’t even managed to get a tent yet," Ms Dadalan said.

Israel on Sunday ordered people to leave parts of Deir Al Balah, previously designated a humanitarian zone.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said troops were continuing to “dismantle terrorist infrastructure” on the outskirts of the town.

Up to 88.5 per cent of Gaza has been placed under eviction orders since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October, according to the UN, forcing about 1.8 million people to shelter within the so-called humanitarian zone, which spans about 41 sq km and lacks even basic services.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) on Tuesday said "only 11 per cent of the territory of the safe strip is not under evacuation orders … so we’re trying to work with that number and keep the operation going”.

Mr Laerke noted that a total of 16 evacuation orders have been issued for the month of August alone, creating upheaval for Gazans already uprooted several times.

The same orders have also encompassed the UN’s aid hub in Deir Al Balah.

“It affected 15 premises hosting UN and NGO aid workers, four UN warehouses, Al Aqsa hospital, two clinics, three wells, one water reservoir and one desalination plant," he told journalists in Geneva. Adding that the evacuations happened “at very short notice and in dangerous conditions”.

Though thousands have already left, many who have already been displaced several times say they prefer to risk their lives than move again.

Mohammed Abu Hassira, 35, refuses to leave because he has "no place to go to or money to move".

“There is no dignity left anywhere so I prefer to stay here and not move," he told The National.

Mr Abu Hassira has been displaced six times during the current war. He has moved across all the areas in the southern Gaza Strip. “You reach a time when you feel fed up,” he said.

“There is no clean or suitable place that provides medical services or even food.”

Up to 30,000 people per square km

Gazans live 30,000 to a square kilometre in Al Mawasi, another so-called humanitarian zone, the UN has said.

In a recent interview with Irish broadcaster RTE radio, Louise Wateridge, communications officer for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said the situation was "catastrophic". She added: "You can't even see the floor any more, or the sand. Somebody told us there's nowhere for them to go but the sea."

People survive on between one and three litres of water a day because the water system is destroyed or supplies are in areas too risky to reach, she said.

"We've seen snake and scorpion bites and people living among rats, mice and cockroaches," Ms Wateridge said.

Mohammed Tomman, 70, says it is "better to die than live in this humiliation".

Originally from Al Zahra in southern Gaza city, he fled four times and has been living in his friend's office in Deir Al Balah because of a lack of alternatives. "I’ll stay here until I die," he told The National.

"Each time I fled, it cost me around 500 to 800 Israeli shekels [$135-$217] which is unaffordable, and you can’t take everything with you. Each time, you leave your belongings behind."

Deir Al Balah municipality said the Israeli army has reduced the humanitarian space designated for sheltering nearly half of the Gaza Strip's population to only 13 sq km.

"People are lost, they don’t know where to go," Mr Tomman told The National. "Those fleeing Deir Al Balah are returning because there’s nowhere else for them."

Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital

People have also started fleeing Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the last functioning medical complex in central Gaza, after the Israeli army designated the surrounding area "a combat zone".

"The Israeli army declared the areas surrounding the hospital as militant operating zones, which are supposed to be evacuated," hospital spokesman Dr Dighrn told The National. "As a result, people living near the hospital have fled, causing concern among patients and a number of medical staff, who fear the hospital may face the same fate as others that have been targeted".

Despite the challenges, "the medical staff remain in the hospital and continue to serve patients and those inside under very difficult circumstances", he added.

There are about 100 patients still in the hospital, seven of them in intensive care, he said.

“We are reaching a catastrophic stage," Mr Abu Hassira said. "I went to Al Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital because my friend needs to get treatment ... we spent a long time till we found a doctor who gave my friend treatment”.

Yasmeen Saleh, 24, also fled Deir Al Balah to Al Mawasi in Khan Younis. Like hundreds of thousands others, she has been displaced several times.

“I was suddenly so afraid, the bombing started and I didn’t know where to go," she said. "I left with my sons, without my husband. He asked us to leave him because he wants to bring our stuff and join us but I can’t reach him and he can’t come to us.”

Their house has been completely destroyed, she said.

“I am staying now in a place that doesn’t have any life essentials, no medical services, no water. How can we survive, why we are forced to experienced such a life?" she said.

"We need a solution and to end our suffering.”