As Muslims celebrate Eid, Gazans flee bombs, evacuation orders

As millions of Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr this week, gathering with loved ones and exchanging festive greetings, the people of Rafah in southern Gaza find themselves facing a renewed ordeal as Israel presses its deadly bombardment campaign for a second year, triggering a new wave of displacement in an area where no where is really safe.

This comes as the Israeli army issued on Monday new ‘evacuation’ orders for all areas of Rafah, a city that shelters more than 50,000 people.

“All residents of al-Nasr, al-Shawka, al-Salam, al-Manara, and Qizan al-Najjar must evacuate immediately and head to al-Mawasi,” Avichai Adraee, an Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman, announced in a statement posted to social media. 

He warned that the army would begin “fighting with extreme force” to target what he described as “terrorist organisations.”

However, for many residents, there is no real choice. Al-Mawasi, located west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, is already overcrowded with displaced families and is no longer able to accommodate more people fleeing death. 

Moreover, the area remains far from safe. Ongoing Israeli bombardment continues to target makeshift shelters, with security sources and local eyewitnesses reporting casualties, many of them children and women.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed about 76 Palestinians, including children and women, most of them in the southern areas of the coastal enclave, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza. 

Forced to leave once again

Umm Samer Shaath, who returned to the remains of her destroyed home just two months ago, has found herself once again on the run along Gaza’s destroyed roads, now reduced to patches of rugged dirt. 

Holding her young daughter’s hand, she recalls a promise she can no longer keep. “I told her I would buy her new clothes for Eid,” she told The New Arab, her voice heavy with sorrow. 

“I couldn’t buy anything for her. And now, we must flee again. This is not Eid; it is a never-ending nightmare”. 

Nearby, 74-year-old Salim Abu Ajwa sits beside a small bag on the roadside, watching the crowds of displaced people pass by. 

“Since the beginning of the war, I have been moving between Khan Younis and Rafah, and now they [the Israeli army] are telling us to leave again. But where can we go?” he asked. 

“The whole world is celebrating Eid while we are searching for a place where rockets won’t reach us,” the exhausted old man remarked to TNA. 

No Eid in Rafah 

In past years, the markets of Rafah were bustling with shoppers, and children’s laughter filled the streets. But the city is unrecognisable this year, transformed into a war zone.

Abdul Rahman al-Daraji, 12, had eagerly awaited Eid, but reality shattered his hopes. “I wanted to wear my new clothes and play with my friends, but today, we are in the streets. The mosque where we prayed Eid has been destroyed. We don’t even know where to go,” he told TNA. 

He pauses, then asks, “Why must we [the children of Gaza] be killed, displaced, and deprived of our rights while children around the world celebrate Eid?”

Further down the road, Iyad Najm stops to rest after walking for over two hours. His voice is filled with anger. “On Eid, Muslims congratulate each other, but we are running for our lives and burying our children,” he told TNA. “The world is celebrating, and we are dying.”

A new Nakba

As despair grips Rafah’s residents, Palestinian officials have condemned the Israeli evacuation orders, warning of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

In a press statement, the Government Media Office in Gaza described the situation as a “new Nakba,” referencing the 1948 mass displacement of Palestinians. 

The Ministry of Interior also condemned, in a press statement, the evacuation orders, saying, “The Israeli occupation’s threats to completely evacuate Rafah under continuous bombardment are a prelude to further crimes against our people.”

The ministry warned that these forced displacements would only deepen the catastrophic suffering endured by Gaza’s population over the past 18 months of war, blockade, and repeated displacement. 

“This illegal policy of siege and starvation,” it added, “is systematically worsening the humanitarian disaster.”

Calling for urgent international intervention, the ministry held Israel fully responsible for the “crimes of genocide” against Gaza’s civilians. 

It also urged international institutions to take legal action against Israeli officials, accusing them of committing “war crimes against a defenceless people.”