“No Safe Place: Palestinians in Gaza City Seek Shelter Amid Growing Violations”
Gaza City has become an increasingly desperate place for civilians trying to survive. With Israeli ground operations advancing and humanitarian corridors under severe pressure, many displaced Palestinians now find themselves with nowhere safe to flee — or reluctant to leave even when they have the chance. The result: people are staying in damaged houses, makeshift shelters, and overcrowded camps — often returning to danger out of necessity.
The Current Situation
Israel has issued evacuation orders in parts of Gaza City, urging civilians to move south to so-called “humanitarian zones” such as Mawasi. But the reality on the ground is far more complicated. Many of those who fled already found that Mawasi’s camps are overcrowded, lacking in shelter tents, water, medical care, and basic infrastructure.
Some families attempted the journey, only to find that there was no space — or that the journey itself was unsafe or prohibitively expensive. For example, one man, Mohammed al-Sherif, left his neighborhood Sabra with family but could not secure a tent or adequate shelter in Mawasi and decided to return to Gaza City.
Why Many Palestinians Prefer (or Are Forced) to Stay
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Lack of options: With many shelters either full or inadequately supplied, people often see moving south not as moving to safety but moving into a new crisis.
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Costs: Transport is expensive. Tents are costly. For many, the financial burden is beyond what they can manage. Some reported that just travelling costs hundreds of dollars (in local value) and a tent could cost even more.
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Fear of losing whatever remains: People worry what happens if they abandon homes or possessions, even damaged ones. Also, for those with old or sick family members, the journey might be too hard or impossible.
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Trust and information: Some are skeptical about whether the “safe” zones truly are safe. Reports of strikes even in humanitarian zones or near them raise doubts. Warnings (leaflets, etc.) have sometimes come with little assurance that the path or destination will guarantee protection.
Humanitarian Cost
The consequences are brutal. Those staying often live in damaged buildings where basic services are broken. Water, sanitation, healthcare are stretched or unavailable. Camps or tent areas are saturated; people live side by side with minimal shelter. The risk of disease, exposure, dehydration, malnutrition, and death increases.
Aid organizations warn that hospitals are nearing collapse. The volume of displaced persons far outpaces the capacity of relief efforts. Some NGOs have been forced to suspend work in certain areas due to insecurity.
Broader Implications
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The mass displacement and failure of shelter zones to meet their promised function raise serious questions about accountability, international protection obligations, and war-time humanitarian norms.
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Returning into a conflict zone is an act of last resort, not of choice. The costs, both physical and psychological, are enormous — families uprooted, routines shattered, lives continually threatened.
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The uncertainty around future access to aid, return routes, property rights and whether homes will even be there if people come back compounds the trauma.
Toward Hope?
Some relief comes in the form of opening evacuation corridors, increasing tent supplies, water, medical relief. But many of these fixes are partial and inconsistent. What’s desperately needed:
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Clear, safe, well-supplied evacuation routes and humanitarian zones that are actually accessible.
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More shelter materials (tents, tarpaulin) and basic services in those zones.
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Protection of civilians with stronger enforcement of humanitarian law.
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More transparency and communication so people can make informed decisions.
In such circumstances, Gaza’s civilians face a cruel paradox: staying is dangerous, leaving is often even more perilous. For many, the only “home” they have left is uncertainty. And until the violence stops, until aid flows freely, and until protection is real, every decision remains between bad and worse.