Testimonies From the Inferno in Northern Gaza

"At first drones scattered leaflets calling for immediate evacuation. Jabalya was a very crowded camp at this stage because thousands of DPs had come there from other places and were living in local schools, which had been converted to absorption centers. The open areas in the camp filled up with tents, and it was so crowded that it was hard to walk in the street.

"When the ground operation started [this past October], it was accompanied by heavy bombing. People were afraid for their children's lives, and were forced to flee. We were forced to leave on the fourth day of the operation, after a night of terror. A drone, or some sort of Israeli aircraft that had been fired at the roof of our house, hit the solar panels up there. Tanks fired shells and hit the upper floors. It was dark, we were scared and didn't know where to go, but we realized that we had to get out of there.

"In the days that followed, the Israel Defense Forces attacked a water-distribution point near us a few times. People were being starved and were kept thirsty so they would be forced to evacuate. In the end, we found ourselves walking in total darkness, with tanks moving to the right and to the left, scattering sand and dust on us. The whole way was filled with destruction."

– Mohammed, 31, Jabalya

The army forced us to march between dozens of tanks along a narrow route full of dead bodies and body parts. There were hundreds of children with us. They walked next to us and saw everything.

Rania

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