Gaza City Under Heavy bombardment as Residents Face Displacement and Lack of Aid
northern Gaza City neighborhoods are experiencing intense Israeli bombardment, forcing residents too flee with limited resources and facing a critical lack of shelter and humanitarian aid. NPR reported from the Sheikh radwan neighborhood last week, days before a forced evacuation order was issued and the area came under heavy fire.
Abud Warda, a Gaza resident, recounted fleeing with her grandson, possessing only the clothes they wore.She was unable to dismantle her makeshift tent and now lacks shelter, while her grandson is without water. Numerous families were observed transporting meager possessions – mattresses, water jugs, and clothing – in makeshift wagons.
Despite Israeli military assurances of “abundant humanitarian aid” for those evacuating south, as posted on social media, aid has not materialized. The military has shared images portraying Palestinians traveling south comfortably, but transportation costs are exorbitant due to restricted fuel supplies within Gaza.
Ibrahim Abu Humeidan, a father of two, stated his family has been displaced 17 or 18 times during the current conflict, losing track of the exact number. He alleges indiscriminate firing by the military compelled residents to leave his neighborhood of Saftawi. “I am here, tossed in the street, without any money…I don’t have money to get south. I don’t even have money to feed my kids,” he told NPR. Humeidan also reported a lack of available space for tents in both Gaza City and southern Gaza.
The Israeli military has dismissed claims of insufficient space, publishing maps indicating “vast empty areas” for tent placement in southern Gaza. However, analysis by Israeli professor Yaakov Garb, an environmental studies expert, using satellite imagery, reveals these areas are either designated as off-limits military zones, already occupied by displaced persons, or unsuitable due to shifting sand dunes.
Garb stated the military’s designations “seem to be quite distanced from what’s actually going on on the ground and the needs of the population,” and characterized the situation as a lack of planning “in advance of an emergency they’re about to create.”
