Gaza City residents voice dread over planned Israeli offensive

A pervasive sense of fear and uncertainty grips the approximately one million residents of Gaza City, who are facing a planned Israeli military offensive that many believe will force them south into areas already overwhelmed with displaced persons, reported Xinhua.

The Israeli army, having besieged Gaza City for roughly two weeks with heavy airstrikes and artillery, said it is preparing an operation to take control of the city.

On Wednesday, it issued a statement urging residents to evacuate to the south, claiming that vast empty areas remain in al-Mawasi and central camps, which it said are being prepared with tents, water pipelines, and aid centers.

For the city's inhabitants, already worn down by almost two years of war and multiple displacements, these assurances ring hollow.

Palestinian woman Warda Ghaben, 45, displaced from northern Gaza's Beit Lahia to southern Gaza's Rafah, then to central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, and finally to Gaza City, called the looming operation a "new catastrophe."

"Fear and anxiety are widespread among all the city's residents, because Gaza has become the last refuge for those exhausted by displacement who no longer have the energy to move again," she told Xinhua.

"The entry of the Israeli army, which is now encircling the city, is terrifying because it means destruction, killing, and displacement once again," she said, adding that she does not know where to go if an attack occurs in the city already "overcrowded with tents and displaced people."

Ismail Saba, a 42-year-old father of two from western Gaza, told Xinhua that "the city's residents are living in a state of confusion, not knowing whether to prepare for evacuation or wait for a political agreement to stop the war."

Moving south is no longer a feasible option due to severe overcrowding, he said, adding that "what is required is a comprehensive ceasefire, not further displacement." Alaa Abu Hashem, 29, told Xinhua his family has been displaced twice already, from Jabalia and western Gaza City.

"Each time we hear that the south is the safest place, but the truth is, Rafah, Khan Younis, and Deir al-Balah can no longer accommodate anyone. People are living on top of each other. There are not enough houses or tents," he said.

"If they attack Gaza City, we don't know where to go. We feel trapped by fear and anxiety, living between a sky that is bombing and a land that is not big enough for us," he said.

Awni Muammar, 65, displaced from the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, said he prefers to return to his destroyed home rather than move further south.

"The displaced want to return to their homes instead of being pushed into places whose fate we do not know. Two years of war are enough. We want to live in peace and security," he told Xinhua.

The planned offensive, meeting fierce global condemnation, came amid ongoing mediation efforts from Egypt and Qatar to solve the conflict. On Sunday, Hamas said it had endorsed a proposal put forward by the two mediators a week ago, agreeing to a partial prisoner exchange deal with Israel and being ready for a comprehensive truce deal. But Israel has not responded to the proposal yet.

Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and shelling continued on Thursday, with local sources reporting homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods in southern Gaza City, as well as parts of Jabalia in the north.

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Xinhua that at least 20 Palestinians were killed in early morning strikes across Gaza.

Gaza-based health authorities said in an update on Thursday that Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 71 people, including 22 aid workers, and injured 339, including 203 aid workers, over the past 24 hours.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza has killed 62,966 people and injured 159,266 others, they said, adding that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza have caused 317 deaths, including 121 children.