As Palestinians pushed south in Gaza, some fear they will be forced out
Pushed to the brink of Gaza’s southern border, Palestinians who have been told by Israeli forces to seek refuge in Rafah find themselves weighing a painful question: “Do we abandon the dreams of our ancestors?"
TEL AVIV — Tragedy envelops Gaza and its people.
Despite the catastrophic war that has killed thousands of his fellow residents, Nawaf Muttar says he would never leave the enclave even if he had the chance.
“I cannot go to Sinai,” he told NBC News’ crew on the ground, referring to the arid Egyptian peninsula bordering Gaza to the south. “Neither I nor my family nor anyone I know wants to go there.”
The war, precipitated by the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks that killed some 1,200 people and resulted in the kidnapping of some 240 people in Israel, according to Israeli officials, has also killed more than 21,000 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 100 of those kidnapped are believed to remain in captivity.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and ground operations have leveled entire neighborhoods, displaced an estimated 90% of the enclave's residents and plunged an estimated 1 million into hunger and starvation, according to the World Health Organization. Residents have been ordered to leave crowded, urban refugee camps as Israel announced it was expanding its ground offensive into what it called “a new battle zone.”
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