Israeli bombardment pushes more Palestinians into southern Gaza: ‘This is not a life’

As Israel steps up its strikes on central areas of Gaza, residents are forced to flee towards Rafah at the southern edge of the besieged territory. Tom Bennett speaks to those struggling for food and water as they dodge airstrikes, and hospital staff dealing with an influx of patients

The aftermath of an Israeli strike on Rafah – one of the few places in Gaza not under evacuation orders (Reuters)

When an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building just metres from southern Gaza’s Kuwaiti Hospital, the surrounding area – overcrowded with people who have fled other parts of Gaza – sank into chaos.

“It wasn’t a normal airstrike,” says Awad Mohammed Ali Al-Zain, 22, who was sitting near the building when he was hit by shrapnel from the blast. “It was terrifying,” he says.

People in the streets outside the hospital dropped their belongings and ran for cover. Some crouched behind ambulances, others sprinted up the street. A father ran clutching his toddler. Young children burst into tears. A lone donkey that had been towing a cart of supplies turned itself halfway around in the middle of the road as its owners fled for cover – as a burst of further strikes hit the building just a few hundred metres behind it.