Rafat Abu Tuima, 62, and his family arrived at the start of the war in Gaza last week after Israel launched an offensive in parts of the southern city of Rafah, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee. This was the sixth time since then that he had been forced to live as an evacuee.
Abu Tuima, a pre-war taxi driver, is staying with his wife, young son and eight children from his late first wife in a tent in the courtyard of a UN-run school in Khan Younis. . Outside the school on Thursday, several trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies drove down the street, children trying to grab whatever they could get their hands on, and some fleeing with bags of sugar.
The thousands of Palestinians who have taken refuge in Khan Yunis over the past week and a half since Operation Rafah began have little food or other relief supplies such as tents.
“No one helped us here,” Abu Tayma said, starting to break down in tears.
“Life here is not fair to us at all. We want to live in peace like everyone else,” he said. “In Rafah, people and charities gave us small amounts of money, but no one here asked about us. About the children and women here. No one cares.”
The Israeli attack in Rafah has blocked nearly all aid from passing through the two main border crossings in southern Gaza. “The threat of hunger in Gaza has never been greater,” the United Nations World Food Program said in a statement Wednesday, warning that food and fuel stocks would be depleted within days.
The agency also said its main warehouse in Rafah was difficult to reach due to Israeli military attacks and fighting in the area.
Fuel has been in short supply in the Gaza Strip since Israel announced a “total siege” of the area on October 9, two days after the Hamas-led offensive. Fuel shortages threaten the operation of trucks, hospitals, generators, sewage pumping stations, desalination systems and other basic services for 2.2 million people.
At least 600,000 people were evacuated from Rafah last week alone, according to UNRWA, the United Nations' main agency supporting Palestinians. Another 100,000 people have fled their homes and shelters in northern Gaza following new evacuation orders from the Israeli military, which says it is fighting heavy fighting with Hamas fighters who have returned to the area.
In Khan Yunis, “no one is distributing anything, no one is helping, nothing is coming in to help the people,” said Mohamed Aboljela, who arrived from Rafah a few days ago. He said the few items that arrive in the city in commercial trucks are being sold at high prices.
The 27-year-old, a project coordinator for a development organization, said Palestinians evacuated from Rafah and other areas are paying hundreds of dollars to travel in trucks and donkey carts, without food or tents. He said he had almost no money left to buy one. They sell for at least 1,000 shekels (about $270) and up to twice that amount.
“People don’t have this kind of money,” he said. “People are sleeping on the streets and waiting for aid organizations to help them build tents.”
Tweema's family evacuated Rafah a week ago and managed to bring only blankets and clothing with them. They had to pay 250 shekels for a van to transport them from the battle-torn city to the United Nations school in Khan Younis, where they are now protected.
His wife, Nadja Abu Tuima, 42, miscarried twins days after the war began, after the family was forced to flee their home near the Israeli border after shelling.
“We are here on our own,” Abu Tuima said. “I am tired and exhausted from the repeated evacuations and suffering.”