Increasing numbers of families are rushing to leave Gaza City to escape death and hunger, with the escalation of battles between Israel and Hamas to the sound of bursts of gunfire, the sound of explosions, and the roar of drones.

Destruction reigns in the place. When darkness falls in the early evening, a spot of light shines from Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, which has an area of 365 square kilometers and is home to 2.4 million people, and which is surrounded between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

Journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, a senior correspondent for the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel, told Agence France-Presse, “The situation is very difficult in Gaza. The bombing is affecting all areas.”

Al-Dahdouh had just left the city, where hundreds of thousands of its residents had left, in compliance with the orders of the Israeli army, which said it was now deploying its tanks in the northern Gaza Strip and in “the center of Gaza City.” Caregivers and international organizations have reported its spread at hospital doors.

"Tragedy"

Previously, the streets of the city, with a population of 600,000 people, were bustling with activity before the war began on October 7 due to a surprise attack by Hamas.

The Corniche has always been a favorite place for families who want to go out and have fun, and for runners who want to maintain their fitness. Restaurants and cafes flourished, and UN schools organized two or three class periods a day to accommodate all students, which caused traffic jams due to the crush of cars and horse-drawn carriages at the end of each class.

Now, after five weeks of unprecedented intense fighting in the Strip, despite being exposed to four wars between 2008 and 2021, nearly half of the homes have been damaged and destroyed according to the United Nations, and thousands have been killed, some in strikes that targeted UN schools or hospitals where they believed they were Safe.

Since October 7, the Hamas government's Ministry of Health has reported the killing of more than 11,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, and the injury of more than 27,000 others.

Now, thousands are once again walking the route south.

Jawad Harouda, a Palestinian artist, finally agreed to leave the Beach camp, located on the northern coast, after the bombing approached it on Thursday evening.

He told AFP, "It is a tragedy... Last night, I did not think that my children and I would be able to get out safely, given the intensity of the bombing and the gunfire we saw."

Munir al-Rai was also displaced from the Beach camp, where his parents took refuge after the “Nakba” that followed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and caused more than 760,000 Palestinians to flee or were expelled from their lands, according to the United Nations.

"nothing at all"

He told Agence France-Presse that the Israeli army launched “random” raids in the Shati camp.

While he was carrying his child on his shoulders, he added, “Houses fall on the heads of their occupants, children and women, none of whom remain in pieces.”

Israel, which announced in an amended toll on Friday that it had reduced the number of casualties since the attack launched by Hamas on its territory from 1,400 to 1,200 dead, is waging a guerrilla war in urban areas to “eliminate” Hamas, which it accuses of hiding in tunnels under civilian homes and even in hospitals.

But beyond the whirring of bullets and incessant airstrikes, food shortages have prompted many to leave.

Before continuing on his way with groups of exhausted families, Muhammad Talabani, a displaced person from Gaza City carrying his daughter in his arms and a bag on his back, said, “There is no food or drink. We go to stores to buy diapers, milk, or anything else for the girl, but we do not find anything, even canned food.” Not available at all."

The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs announced on Thursday that bakeries in the northern Gaza Strip had stopped operating. The largest, in Gaza City, was closed on Tuesday when Israeli bombing destroyed the solar panels that supplied it with electricity.

The hungry residents then rushed to the flour stores, because, according to the United Nations, Gazans had nothing left to eat except raw onions.