Israel has promised to annihilate to the Hamas movement, that governs Gaza, after its fighters stormed through the barrier surrounding the enclave on Oct. 7, gunning down 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, on the deadliest day in the Jewish state’s 75-year history. . The Islamist group also kidnapped 199 people, according to the Israeli army. Hamas says it kidnapped between 200 and 250 people.
Israel has subdued Gaza, where 2.3 million Palestinians live, to a total blockage and has bombarded it with unprecedented air strikes. Gaza authorities say at least 2,800 people have been killed there and nearly 11,000 wounded, most of them civilians.
On Friday, Israel asked residents of the Gaza Strip to flee south. According to the United Nations, one million Gazans have already been expelled from their homes. There is no electricity, drinking water is scarce and fuel for emergency generators could run out in a day.
With few belongings, on motorcycles, cars, trailers or on donkey backs, Palestinians have been fleeing south for several days. “Without electricity, without water, without internet, I feel like I’m losing my humanity,” Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, told AFP, who went to the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt.