Highlights: The international community remains concerned about a possible Israeli ground operation in the city of Rafah. Australia, New Zealand and Canada published a joint statement this Thursday warning against this project. This locality on the border with Egypt is now home to 1.3 million people, the majority of the inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave. While the bombings targeting the city have increased in recent days, some have chosen to leave, without knowing where to take shelter. “We spend our days waiting but we don’t know what we are waiting for. An entire family can disappear at once,” one man says.

The international community remains concerned about a possible Israeli ground operation in the city of Rafah. Australia, New Zealand and Canada released a statement this Thursday…

Gaza: in Rafah, these Palestinians trying to return to their homes elsewhere in the enclave

The international community remains concerned about a possible Israeli ground operation in the city of Rafah. Australia, New Zealand and Canada published a joint statement this Thursday warning against this project. The secretary general of the Arab League called him “crazy”. This locality on the border with Egypt is now home to 1.3 million people, the majority of the inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave. But while the bombings targeting the city have increased in recent days, some have chosen to leave, without knowing where to take shelter.

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Palestinians leave Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, towards what they believe to be safer areas in the center of the enclave, this Thursday, February 15, 2024. AFP - MOHAMMED ABED

By: RFI Follow

With our special correspondent in Jerusalem,

Guilhem Delteil

, and

Nicolas Benita

Several weeks ago, Ahmed, his wife and children found refuge in Rafah. He had managed to rent a small accommodation which he shared with another family. Space was limited. But being able to live in a real apartment was a luxury, with many displaced people forced to live in tents.

But the little security that Ahmed had found in Rafah has disappeared. The fighting moved closer to the city and conversely, the Israeli army withdrew from the center of the

Gaza

Strip . This week, he finally chose to return home. A choice that Ahmed is not the only one to have made.

After an exodus towards the southernmost town of the enclave, many

Palestinians

are now returning to locations further north. But the journey is complicated and risky, because the only road still usable is occasionally bombed. And gasoline is rare. Traveling about fifteen kilometers cost him $275.

Around his home, there are a few shops that still allow him to find something to eat. But prices have soared: they have multiplied by five or ten, he assures. From his home, Ahmed hears the bombings. “

We spend our days waiting but we don’t know what we are waiting for. An entire family can disappear at once,

” he says.

Read alsoGaza: last night, Israeli assault on the Nasser hospital in Khan Younès

Gaza: in Rafah, these Palestinians trying to return to their homes elsewhere in the enclave

Gaza: in Rafah, these Palestinians trying to return to their homes elsewhere in the enclave

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