Thousands of people are leaving Khan Younis, as the Israel Defense Forces said it has surrounded the city amid further operations west of the area.
A CNN video recorded Monday shows displaced people sitting on the side of streets and in the vicinity of the seashore as they head west and south. The IDF had instructed civilians to leave several districts in and around the city and head toward the coast, which it described to CNN as “safer.”
The video shows cars, trucks, and tractors transporting families and their essential belongings, such as blankets, mattresses and food. Many, however, are walking.
Hisham Sayegh said he saw four people killed, which forced him to leave with his family as shelling in the area intensifies.
“There are dead people on the ground. We left them behind. There are people killed inside the houses,” Sayegh said. “We were expecting to die at any minute.”
Amer Hijjo, from northern Gaza, said he was on the move for a third time. “Now, we are displaced again to the unknown. The bombardment was all night. We woke up with a tank at the entrance of the house this (Monday) morning, so we left.”
Um Mohammad, a woman from Khan Younis, said she and her family are on the street until they figure out where to go — and they can not afford transport south to Rafah. “Vegetables, flour, and water are all expensive. There are no toilets. No one cares about us as if we are not human beings.”
“We have been in the streets for more than 100 days. Every place we go to, they tell us to leave, and here we are again and again in the streets,” she said.
Um Adel, a woman from Gaza City, told CNN her family had been in Khan Younis, and her granddaughter died because “there was no oxygen or medication for her.”
