Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
UK trade minister Reynolds: We were not involved in Iran attacks but we were informed
Senior Iranian source to Reuters: The number of personnel at the Fordow site had been reduced to a minimum
Senior Iranian source to Reuters: Most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow was moved to an undisclosed location prior to US attack
Iran's IRGC: The most significant capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this sacred defense have not yet been deployed
Iran's IRGC: In this barrage of missiles, air raid sirens sounded after the missiles made impact, causing the enemy to lose its balance
Iran's IRGC: The deployed missiles are capable of maneuvering while falling and are guided until the moment of impact, and they are equipped with destructive and highly explosive warheads
Iran's IRGC: We have adopted new and surprising tactics to achieve more precise, destructive, and effective strikes
Iran's IRGC: In this operation, we deployed the third-generation multi-warhead ballistic missile Kheibar Shekan for the first time
Iran's IRGC: We launched the 20th wave of Operation True Promise 3 by firing 40 solid- and liquid-fueled missiles
Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee: Tehran has the right to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty based on Article 10

Forced, prompt evacuation orders; another form of Israeli terrorism

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Guardian
  • 27 Jul 2024 11:27
  • 2 Shares
6 Min Read

Palestinians describe their harrowing escape from "Israel’s" carnage in Khan Younis, recounting how they had barely any warning before being forced to flee once again amid bombs, bullets, and dead bodies.

Listen
  • x
  • Smoke rises from buildings in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on July 25, 2024. (AP)
    Smoke rises from buildings in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on July 25, 2024. (AP)

In addition to the thousands of killings and man-made starvation in Gaza, "Israel" has lately implemented a policy of launching artillery and airstrikes shortly after ordering the evacuation of areas it had previously designated as "safe" humanitarian zones. This practice is not an isolated event; multiple evacuation orders have been issued over the past nine months.

This week, as Munadil Abu Younes was reading the news on his phone, he was startled by yet another evacuation order from Israeli occupation forces.

‘Like judgment day’

IOF ordered thousands to "evacuate", including from the area where he was taking refuge. His eighth displacement was unlike any he had experienced before.

“Israeli forces told us about the evacuation order as they entered the area,” he told The Guardian. “We barely had time to collect our things, most people fled without taking anything. During previous evacuation orders they gave us a day or two, but this time we didn’t even have half an hour.”

The child, Masa Yassin, was displaced with her mother from Gaza city and was martyred in the city of Khan Yunis without her father seeing her. pic.twitter.com/f1CXdgu8Fq

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) July 26, 2024

The IOF issued a forcible order that included much of western Khan Younis and part of al-Mawasi, a region previously labeled as a “humanitarian zone”.

Gaza’s second-largest city was already reduced to rubble and debris due to relentless Israeli bombardment. In Khan Younis, hundreds of thousands of residents were once again forcibly displaced without a clear destination, as the evacuation order impacted approximately 400,000 people.

Some people learned of the evacuation order through voice messages on their phones. Muhanna Qudeih, 43, from the Khuzaa neighborhood in eastern Khan Younis, was at the local market buying vegetables when he started hearing people around him shouting about the order.

“I started asking those around me, and they said there were recorded messages on mobile phones ordering everyone to evacuate the area,” he told The Guardian.

He grabbed some essentials and ran to his sister’s house to tell his family. His wife, Qudeih, and their three children have lived with his sister since their house was bombed during the first Israeli ground invasion of Khan Younis. This would be their fifth displacement.

'Bullets were falling around us like rain'

In Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, Younes and his wife, along with their six children, hurriedly gathered their most essential belongings and packed them into their car.

Related News

36 Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 'only women, children': UN

UN rapporteur warns of 'mass ethnic cleansing' in West Bank

“The bombing was initially light, but an hour after the evacuation order it intensified,” he said, as quoted by the Guardian.

“Then, shells came at us from all directions. I wanted to move quickly, but suddenly the street was full of people.” The family drove east toward Salah al-Din Road, only to encounter Israeli tanks advancing in their direction.

“We found people running, racing to escape like judgment day had come,” he said. “Bullets were falling around us like rain, and many people got hit ... We prayed to be able to flee this disaster safely.”

As Qudeih and his family fled their home near the center of Khan Younis, he reported encountering "a shower of bombardment" along with tank and helicopter fire. He also noted that several drones hovered above them, "watching everything and shooting."

'I saw dead and wounded people laying on the ground'

People scattered in all directions in search of safety. Many, including Qudeih and his family, fled toward the Al-Nasser hospital in the city, as hundreds of wounded people also poured in, overwhelming the already struggling facility due to the Israeli systematic dismantling of the healthcare system in Gaza.

Gaza health officials said that by the evening, the renewed Israeli bombing campaign had killed more than 70 people and wounded at least 200 more. Medics pleaded for blood donations and supplies to try to treat the injured, many of whom were laid out on the floor or between beds for lack of space.

Some of those gathered outside the hospital had fled there on foot, leaving their belongings behind in the rush to escape.  “As we ran away from the bombings, I saw dead and wounded people laying on the ground,” said a woman who gave her name only as Amal.

This cruel picture is from an Israeli massacre against defenseless displaced civilians in the “humanitarian” Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis, south of the #Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/YMsN6rt7vM

— Muhammad in Gaza🇵🇸 (@7MohammedKhaled) July 25, 2024

“There was no way anyone could save them or even retrieve the bodies, because the bombing was so bad … aircraft of all kinds were hovering low to the ground the entire time.”

Israeli tanks drove deep into Bani Suhaila on the edge of Khan Younis, while IOF soldiers positioned themselves on rooftops. Others reportedly ransacked the town’s cemetery.

For the thousands who escaped the Israeli bombs and artillery fire, their latest displacement brought new challenges. With nowhere to run to, many like Amal spent the week sleeping in the open, unable to find a place in the shattered homes that remained in southern Gaza. Health officials said 30 more people had been killed and almost 150 injured by Thursday evening.

A sad picture of displaced families from the eastern regions of Khan Yunis sleeping on the road in front of Nasser Medical Hospital💔 pic.twitter.com/aTL3kfOLIL

— Emelia 🇸🇪🇦🇹 (@Bernadotte22) July 22, 2024

“We couldn’t find anywhere to settle as there were so many displaced people. Initially, we sat on the rubble of a bombed-out mosque. Along with many of the displaced we’re just out in the open now. We’re somewhere with no water, we have to walk far to buy it, food is very scarce and the situation is very difficult,” Amal told The Guardian.

“We’ve been displaced over and over again, but this time was different and we were stripped of our possessions. These have been the hardest days we have experienced in this brutal war.”

Younes mentioned that he eventually found refuge in a southwestern part of Khan Younis, but within days, that area also received an evacuation order.

“We became twice our age during these 10 months,” he anxiously stated.

  • Forcible displacement
  • war on Gaza
  • Israeli aggression
  • Gaza genocide
  • war crimes
  • Israeli occupation
  • massacres in Gaza
  • evacuation
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

  • MENA
  • 17 Jun 2025
Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025 (AP)

Wave 12 of Operation True Promise 3 launched, Sejjil deployed: IRGC

  • Politics
  • 18 Jun 2025
Iran launches missile barrage to Tel Aviv, casualties reported

True Promise 3, wave 14: Tel Aviv targeted, casualties reported

  • Politics
  • 19 Jun 2025
Iran's heavy barrages impact multiple Israeli targets overnight

Iran's heavy barrages impact multiple Israeli targets overnight

  • Palestine
  • 18 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Iran’s Bavar-373 air defense system on display during a military drill (Mehr News Agency)
Politics

Iran intercepts Israeli drones near Tehran, multiple cities

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, June 15, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran warns aid to 'Israel' will be treated as aggression

US President Donald Trump arrives to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Friday, June 20, 2025, en route to Montclair, New Jersey (AP)
Politics

Trump, Erdogan made covert attempts to hold talks with Iran: Axios

Ansar Allah supporters surround a giant Iranian flag during an anti-US and anti-'Israel' weekly rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 20, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US ships in Red Sea will be targeted if US attacks Iran: YAF

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS