(10 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, Gaza Strip – 10 May 2024
1. Various of closed markets and near empty street in Rafah
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmad Abu Nahil, displaced resident:
"They told us that these areas are not threatened and are safe but it turned out that this area is dangerous and shells are falling in the east (Rafah). The shells struck here and struck further near the Kuwaiti Hospital and the Sultan area so for sure it will reach here. There is no choice. We have to go to the coast like the rest of the people."
3. People walking in the street
4. Various of vehicle loaded with luggage leaving Rafah
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hazem Abdeen, displaced resident:
"We have to evacuate but we don’t know where we are going to go. It’s done, all the people have left. Suddenly they said they will enter from the crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor is not far from here so you can suddenly find a tank in the middle of the city and we don’t know anything (about it)."
6. Various of people loading their luggage into a truck
7. Various of people collecting their luggage to evacuate
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Raed al-Fayomi, displaced resident:
"The situation is very, very dangerous. We could not sleep at night as there was artillery shelling as well as rockets. The conditions are very difficult. There are no people in the street and food products are scarce. There is no food or water. For now, we are managing but the Jews haven’t even entered yet. They have been in the east (eastern Rafah) from the start, and we have nothing here already."
9. Various of vehicle loaded with luggage leaving Rafah
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Adel al-Shami, displaced resident:
"This street used to be very vital and full. You could not step into it. Now the street is empty and there are no products and people, whether displaced or the residents of Rafah have evacuated. People who were displaced from Khan Younis, Gaza and Nusairat have all left. The streets as you can see are fill with cars carrying belonging and heading to Muwasi and Khan Younis or Sarat. People don’t know where to go. The streets are empty."
11. Various of woman hugging her cat in truck and leaving
STORYLINE:
People in Rafah continued to pack up their belongings as they prepared to leave the city on Friday.
About 110,000 people have fled the southern Gaza city, as heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the city’s outskirts leaves aid crossings inaccessible and food and fuel supplies grow critically low, a U.N. official said.
Israel’s plans for an offensive in Rafah appear to be on hold for now, with the United States deeply opposed and stepping up pressure by threatening to withhold arms.
But even the more limited incursion launched earlier this week threatens to worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe.
"We have to evacuate but we don’t know where we are going to go," said Hazem Abdeen, a local resident.
Another resident, Raed al-Fayomi, said he had been unable to sleep at night due to the sounds of fighting nearby.
"The situation is very, very dangerous," he said.
"The conditions are very difficult. There are no people in the street and food products are scarce. There is no food or water."
Over a million Palestinians have fled to Rafah to escape fighting elsewhere, with many packed into U.N.-run shelters or squalid tent camps.
The city on the border with Egypt is also a crucial hub for bringing in food, medicine, fuel and other goods.
Israeli troops captured the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, forcing it to shut down.
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