Rafah, the last refuge, could become a humanitarian disaster

RAFAH/STOCKHOLM. Israel’s military is planning a ground offensive against Rafah.

Then Gaza’s last refuge could turn into a humanitarian disaster.

– No place is safe in Gaza, says refugee mother Aniya Ghaban.

Desperation is growing in Rafah in southern Gaza.

There are 1.5 of Gaza’s almost 2.3 million inhabitants. They have fled their homes following the Israeli military’s evacuation order. The city that used to have 280,000 inhabitants is now overpopulated.

People sleep outside, in tents and under tarps.

Sometimes directly on the ground.

One of all the refugees is Aniya Ghaban.

Her and her family’s escape began on October 7, from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, shortly after Hamas attacked Israel, and Israel declared war on the terror-labeled group.

– We heard the sound of rockets and explosions. I told the children that we have to leave, she tells Aftonbladet’s employee in Gaza, Muhammad Al-Masry.

Forced to flee again and again

First, they fled to a school in Gaza’s largest permanent refugee camp, Jabalia.

But then the Israeli military began its ground invasion of northern Gaza.

Then they fled again.

And again.

And then again.

First to Nuseirat in central Gaza.

Then to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

– We were there for 15 days. Then they started dropping leaflets on us to leave Khan Yunis and take us to southern Rafah, she says, referring to the Israeli military.

– So we did that.

There they are on a cold Wednesday in February when the journalist Muhammad Al-Masry meets them.

Sleeps with filter on the ground

Aniya Ghaban sits in front of a fireplace, she bakes bread for both her own and other families.

She repeatedly says that life is hard.

That the family has nothing. That everything is expensive.

Clean water exists, but is far away. It is pumped into a well and then filtered.

The family received blankets from other refugees who had some left over.

– We lay them out on the ground and sleep.

The emergency aid that enters Gaza via the Rafah crossing is scarce, and something – Aniya Ghaban herself has no explanation for what – means that all food is expensive.

However, the main threat right now is not the expensive food prices, or the cold.

It is the intensified bombing by the Israeli military.

Evacuation order for ground invasion

First came the message in a brief statement from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant about two weeks ago: After the city of Khan Yunis, the Israeli military’s next target is Rafah.

A day or so later, an even clearer message came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: an order to the military to prepare the evacuation of Rafah – ahead of a ground invasion.

And then another few days later, the residents of Rafah were awakened by Israeli warplanes and helicopters. Around 100 people are believed to have been killed in the widespread attacks.

Since then, more and more people have left the city that was supposed to be the refuge.

“No place is safe”

To the south, the border with Egypt is closed.

Many instead make their way to the north – despite the fact that the devastation there is enormous and fighting is still going on.

Aniya Ghaban dare not.

– They say that Deir al-Balah is safe. My mother-in-law made it to Deir al-Balah. They found a tent. In the tent was a gas tank. They were suffocated by the gas. They had to be buried in the middle of the refugee camp.

She repeats what so many have said during the more than four months of war.

– No place is safe in Gaza.

Some distance away from Aniya Ghaban is the elderly man Zuhair Al-Akhsham. He too has fled from northern Gaza, and the permanent refugee camp al-Shati.

He quickly describes the schools the family took shelter in, and through the testimony it is possible to follow how the Israeli military advanced through Gaza.

Warns of disaster

36 days in the UN school in al-Shati (which was bombed in early November), then a few days in the Malaysian school in Nuseirat (which was bombed in mid-November), then the Technical University in Deir al-Balah (which was bombed in October but continued to be a place of refuge long afterwards), and then finally: Rafah.

– Look here at our situation. Winter. Misery. Problem. A condition that makes one cry, he says.

– That people die in front of you. It is also a great pain.

More and more are now warning of an impending disaster if Israel launches an offensive against Rafah. So is Israel’s closest ally, the United States.

But Netanyahu’s message is clear – a ground invasion awaits:

– We will do it, he said recently in an interview.

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