For nine long months, Amani Zanin’s extended family has been on the run, fleeing the relentless Israeli bombardments that have left many neighborhoods in northern Gaza in ruins. However, when the Israeli military recently urged Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City, the Zanin family, among others, made a bold decision to stay put.
“The road is not safe,” expressed Ms. Zanin, finding refuge with her family in a school building. Exhausted by the perpetual threat of airstrikes and surrounded by devastation, families in the northern Gaza Strip who had previously followed evacuation orders are now choosing to take their chances by remaining in their homes.
Fliers distributed by the Israeli military across parts of Gaza City and shared on social media outlined four designated “safe corridors” for Palestinians to travel to central Gaza swiftly and without scrutiny. Despite the warnings that Gaza City would remain a perilous combat zone, residents received numerous recorded messages on their mobile phones urging them to head south, yet few are complying.
Residents also reported receiving multiple calls on their cellular phones from the Israeli military with a recorded message warning them to flee south.
A Palestinian inspecting the damage in Shejaiya. – Credit: Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters
