Gaza City: In recent days, the sight of people carrying luggage and blankets in the Gaza Strip as they search for a safe place to stay has become a familiar one. Many people have been forced to leave their houses and relocate after air strikes by Israel have hit targets in the vicinity of their homes, causing damage to their dwellings and making them unlivable.
Mohammad Abu Ashour is a 60-year-old man living with his 20 children and grandson in Nasir street behind Hamas prime minister Esmail Hanaya’s office.
His own house was badly damaged after the Israeli air force targeted the prime minister’s office, reducing the house to rubble.
“As you can see my house has been totally destroyed. The windows, the doors and furniture are badly damaged. Everything had been destroyed in one minute. Thank god we have managed to make it through this night,” said Abu Ashour.
Residents of entire neighbourhoods, completely destroyed, had to be evacuated.
Abu Ashour added: “There is no way I can repair the house since all the shops are closed till this situation is over. Till then, I have no choice but to stay at my brother’s house.”
Even those whose houses are intact have been packing up and moving to what they think may be safer places, away from areas that may be potential Israeli targets.
The coastal strip is a considerably small and densely populated area. Explosions in one area can cause damage in the close vicinity and heard for a long distance.
Hussam Abu Kwek, from Tal Al Hawa area, has left the area with his family members after the Ministry of Interior was targeted for three days in a row.
”Our house isn’t that close to the Ministry of Interior but the bombs shook the house and the sounds of the explosions scared us, preventing us from sleeping. Therefore, I went to my father-in-law’s house in Al Rimal area,” Abu kwek said.
Many recalled bad memories of the area during the last war on Gaza Strip. “That’s why we prefer to evacuate the house and take all the necessary things with us before leaving the house,” he said. The neighbourhood is in the southern part of Gaza city. It was severely damaged in the 2009 war and was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting during the war.
Abu Kwek added: “Besides, we believe it’s safer to be at my father-in-law’s house, since we find it more comfortable, not to mention the warmth of each other’s presence during these circumstances.”
