The northern town of Jabaliya had already come under heavy attack by Israeli forces early in the war, leaving many civilians dead and much of the suburb destroyed. Residents therefore thought they had experienced their worst day, as Israeli ground forces moved to other parts of the Gaza Strip and military attacks were concentrated elsewhere.
But last week, Israeli forces again sprayed leaflets over Jabaliya, home to tens of thousands of people, ordering residents to leave as they prepared to launch a new offensive.
“When the Israelis distributed the leaflets, people felt fear, especially considering what they had been through before,” said the woman, who graduated from medical school two months before the war began and volunteered to treat the wounded in a hospital. said Iman Abu Jalm (23), a participant. “We thought we were safe considering we were already under attack. The Israelis are already here.”
Shortly after the leaflets fell, a bomb also fell, she said. Abu Jalm, her 16-year-old sister, and her parents were evacuated from their home after the shelling. She only had time to throw her few clothes into her bag and put on her prayer shawl.
Her father, who has back problems, had trouble walking on the road. Eventually, they found a donkey cart a few miles south that would take him the rest of the way.
Israel said it resumed attacks in Jabaliya on May 11 as Hamas sought to regroup infrastructure and operatives in the area. Hamas accused Israel of “escalating its aggression against civilians across Gaza” and vowed to continue fighting.
At least 15 civilians were killed and 30 injured in an Israeli airstrike in Jabaliya on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Authority's state news agency Wafa. Ambulances and emergency personnel have not been able to reach the scene to rescue the injured or retrieve bodies.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had “engaged and eliminated” Hamas fighters in Jabaliya in a number of battles and discovered several tunnel shafts. Hamas said its fighters destroyed an Israeli tank south of Jabaliya.
Abu Jalm and his family are among at least 64,000 people who have fled Jabaliya and nearby towns over the past week, according to UNRWA, the United Nations' main agency assisting Palestinians.
They are now taking shelter in a bomb-destroyed building several miles to the south, where the smell of unrecovered bodies still hangs in the air. She said there were still strikes nearby, but there were fewer explosions and there were no more clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters.
On Thursday, Abu Jalm tried to return to Jabaliya to check on his home, walking for 45 minutes through rubble-covered streets. But as they approached the neighborhood, she said, the explosions became too close to continue.
“Yes, we have some courage, but we are still scared,” she said. “We may see martyrs being killed on the streets where no one can reach them. We are worried that there may be snipers. Drones could target people walking on the streets. there is.”
Her family had to evacuate several times during the seven-month war, but always stayed with relatives in the same area. This time, the attacks have been more widespread and intense, she said.
“We just want to go home,” she said, adding, “We're so tired. You can see it in our faces. Sometimes we want to cry, but we can't.” .”