Should they follow 400,000 friends, relatives and neighbours who had fled their homes amid Israel's retaliatory airstrikes and its warning that almost half of the enclave's 2.3 million people should evacuate the area for their "own safety" before an expected ground assault? Or should they heed Hamas's call to stay put and stand firm against what it called "this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation"?
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Gaza City, broke down in tears as she tried to make sense of what is going on. "Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel," she said. "The only concern now is just if you'll make it - if you're going to live."
The Palestinian health ministry said 1,799 people have been killed and more than 6,400 injured since Israel began striking Gaza last Saturday. The UN estimates that more than 423,000 people have fled their homes in the territory - many of them making for the area that Israel is now telling them to leave.
By yesterday morning, many people were cramming their belongings into suitcases and plastic bags, scooping up their children and beginning to move south.
"Right now, I'm leaving what I thought was the safest place I could go to," said Rama Abu Amra, a student who had fled several times with her family across Gaza City since the bombardments began. The sound of panicked crowds was audible in the background as she spoke.
"We're not safe at all, we're constantly under attack. I don't know, I'm just praying to God to protect us, to protect our homes, mine is really under attack. I might not find it again."
Abu Amra said she was saying goodbye to everything that she loved: her home; her room; her childhood memories, even her box of university supplies.
"I never thought this would happen," she added. "We've faced many wars before, many escalations before, but even those were easier."
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 14, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 14, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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