(21 Feb 2024)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER:4479422
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip - 20 February 2024
1. Various of people and children walking between tents
HEADLINE: Palestinians say there is 'No safe place' in Gaza
2. Various of tents of displaced people
ANNOTATION: Around 80% of Palestinians have been displaced. They live in tent cities. Exposed to the elements, they may have to pack up at a moment's notice.
3. Wide of people walking between tents
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Saleh Abu Saoud, displaced from Gaza:
“No, there is no safe (area) at all, we did not feel any safety at all. Because what happened in Rafah when they bombed the Shaboura area, there was terror among all the residents of Rafah. They forced the residents to flee from there."
5. Wide of children playing outside of their family's tents
6. People in crowded centre
ANNOTATION: 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Asmaa Sultan, displaced from Beit Lahiya:
"There is no safe place. We are in schools, and the schools are being bombed. We were in the school under the window, the classroom I am in, my relatives were injured while they were in the tent.”
++ ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
As Israeli military operations intensify in the Gaza Strip, particularly on the edge of Rafah and Deir al-Balah, the concept of safety becomes increasingly elusive for its residents.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned that the expansion of these operations threatens vital aid channels into Gaza, exacerbating an already critical humanitarian situation.
Saleh Abu Al-Soud's perspective reveals a shared sentiment among the populace, “No, there is no safe (area) at all."
The quest for sanctity is a futile endeavor, as Asmaa Al-Sultan describes being forced to abandon the UNRWA schools used as shelters.
“There is no safe place. We are in schools, and the schools are being bombed," she said.
These testimonies paint a stark picture of the daily realities for those caught in the crossfire, challenging the very notion of refuge.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.
About a fourth of some 130 captives still being held are believed to be dead.
Israel has laid waste to much of the Palestinian territory in response. Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed.
With 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed, the residents of Gaza face an uncertain future, clinging to the hope of peace and the opportunity to rebuild from the ruins of conflict.
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