Palestinians endure horror as 'Israel' bombs the besieged strip

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Oct 2023 23:28
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The UNRWA estimates that over 20,000 individuals in the Palestinian territory have been forced to leave their homes due to the conflict.

A UNRWA school is pictured sheltering displaced families in the Gaza Strip. (Twitter)

A report by AFP details the gruesome experience Palestinians are experiencing as "Israel" carries out an aggression operation on civilians.

"We all came here to escape the Israeli airstrikes," Mahmud al-Sarsawi told AFP as he lay on a table in a corridor of a school-turned-bomb shelter in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The 68-year-old man said he was one of approximately 70 individuals seeking shelter in the building for the second consecutive day due to Israeli air strikes.

"The situation was terrifying, and we had no choice but to seek refuge," he added.

🔺Today an @UNRWA school sheltering displaced families in the📍#GazaStrip was directly hit

🔺Over 70,000 displaced people in 64 @UNRWA shelters - numbers likely to increase as heavy shelling and airstrikes continue

Latest Update ⬇️ https://t.co/46SdNCdtFS pic.twitter.com/NngVLqbm9x
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 8, 2023

Displacement amid threats

The UNRWA estimates that over 20,000 individuals in Gaza have been forced to leave their homes due to the conflict.

This displacement followed a series of attacks on southern Israeli settlements by Palestinian resistance fighters, involving the launching of thousands of rockets and an incursion into the Israeli-occupied territories in 1948 before dawn on Saturday.

This was followed by the Israeli forces conducting air raids on the densely populated Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million people reside in a small, congested area.

"I'm telling the people of Gaza: get out of there now, because we're about to act everywhere with all our force," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned late Saturday.

Within the span of only two days, official figures from both sides report that approximately 600 Israelis have lost their lives and at least 370 people have died in Gaza.

Latest SitRep on situation in the📍#GazaStrip ⬇️

🔺@UNRWA sheltering 73,538 internally displaced people in 64 schools

🔺Our school sheltering displaced families was directly hit

🔺15 @UNRWA Health Centres resumed providing primary healthcare serviceshttps://t.co/AMocQRKCUc pic.twitter.com/0mJJ3jCJMf
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 8, 2023

Psychological warfare

Inside the classroom, one of 44 schools which are run by the UNRWA, women from Sarsawi's family sat on sponge mattresses they had brought from home, with cooking gas, canned food, and bags of clothes scattered around them.

Amal Al-Sarsawi, 37, mentioned that they were in a state of shock after hearing rockets hitting Gaza and had quickly gathered essential items from their house before seeking refuge at the school.

Throughout the night, they struggled to calm their frightened children, resulting in a sleepless night.

According to a spokesperson for the Palestinian government in Gaza, a total of 13 towers and residential buildings have been demolished, along with 159 individual residential units. Additionally, 1,210 apartments have suffered partial damage.

Amid escalating violence, thousands of displaced people are sheltering in 44 schools managed by @UNRWA, which has been forced to put food distribution to 112K+ families on hold.

Latest update: https://t.co/SJvqcmGtvi pic.twitter.com/xHa6GbkAWp
— United Nations (@UN) October 8, 2023

Managing amid chaos

The New Gaza Boys School, where the Sarsawi family has sought refuge, has the capacity to accommodate at least 300 people, with three families assigned to each classroom.

Within the school's courtyard, children played with a deflated football, while women tried to fashion makeshift partitions from clothing to attain some privacy.

Most of the displaced individuals originate from the eastern part of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip.

In one of the school's corridors, a distressed woman, who had fled with 14 relatives from the north, sat with her head in her hands. She tearfully expressed their inability to afford milk to feed two small babies.

"We haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning. We barely escaped from home with some clothes," she said.

By 18:00 yesterday, over 20,000 Internally Displaced People were sheltering in 44 @UNRWA schools in all areas in the Gaza Strip, except Khan Younis.

Our SitRep on the situation in the Gaza Strip ⬇️https://t.co/gLdAqADUzt pic.twitter.com/jQF1do8HBK
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 8, 2023

Food insecurity

The World Food Programme (WFP) has raised significant concerns about the impact of the ongoing conflict on civilians' access to essential food supplies.

Although shops in affected areas of Palestine presently have about a month's worth of food stocks, there is a risk of rapid depletion as people stock up due to fears of a prolonged conflict, the WFP said in a statement.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people lined up at bakeries on Sunday to obtain bread, even as explosions echoed in the background.

"I am hosting more than 20 people, relatives, and friends who came from border areas," said one man holding up five loaves of bread.

Leila Saqr, a resident of an area identified by the Israeli army, spent the night with her family and three children at the entrance of their building.

"My children were scared. They screamed all night," she said.