Palestinians live in fear of another wave of forcible displacement, says NGO

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has sent an update about the humanitarian situation in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza where a significant number of forcefully displaced Palestinians are concentrated.

“People are living in a constant state of unpredictability, not knowing what is going to come next, be it more displacements, more relocations, or a regional escalation,” Hassan Morajea, regional access advisor for the NRC, says from Gaza’s Deir el-Balah.

NRC estimates that recent relocation orders have reduced the size of Israel’s unilaterally designated “humanitarian zones” in Gaza from 20 percent to 14.5 percent, displacing more than 200,000 people from Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah between 22 and 28 July.

“The streets are uninhabitable, crowded with people using anything that will offer some semblance of a roof over their heads, even if that is in a damaged building scarred with holes, and destruction around them. It’s shocking to see people living in ruins, but that’s what’s happening here in Gaza, because there is no other option. There aren’t open fields to even set up a tent. There aren’t even tents for them to set up,” Morajea said.