'We'd rather die in our homes': Palestinians defy latest displacement orders

Palestinians in Gaza City shrugged off the latest Israeli displacement orders urging them to move south.

Fatima Shaheen, in her 70s, told Middle East Eye she would rather die in her destroyed home than flee.

Last month, her home in Jabalia was destroyed by Israeli bombardment. But she refused to leave, spending her days amid its rubble.

"We will remain steadfast in our homes. We will stay in them," she said. "We die here or we triumph."

Mohammad Kassab echoed Shaheen's resolve.

Forced from his home in the Tuffah neighbourhood earlier this week by Israel's recent ground offensive, Kassab opted to move further north to the Jabalia refugee camp instead of fleeing south. 

"I fled to Jabalia because we want to remain steadfast," he told MEE.

"We can all see who those who were displaced to the south are now yearning to come back," he added. "Life necessities are non-existent there."

Kassab emphasised that safety will always remain elusive no matter where you go in Gaza.

'I would rather die in Tuffah or Jabalia than be buried in the south'

- Mohammad Kassab, Gaza resident 

On Tuesday, an Israeli air strike targeted a UN school sheltering displaced people, killing at least 27 people and wounding 53, many of them women and children.

Kassab cited this incident as evidence that seeking refuge in the south provides no security.

"There's no safety in the south or north. I would rather die in Tuffah or Jabalia than be buried in the south," he added.

Having lost his wife and mother to an Israeli air strike earlier in the war, Kassab now cares for his three sons and daughter alone.

"We struggle to get water and only have canned food available. But we say all praise is due to God."

For Moath, a street food vendor, life in the south is worse than in the north despite the hardships he faces due to the lack of water and food.

"People there [in the south] live in humiliating conditions, staying in tents and being exposed to heat in the summer and rain in the winter," he told MEE.

"It's true they have some food there, but there is no peace of mind. Over there, it is like being in the jungle. You don't know the place and can't visit your family."

"Here, you know the place, the streets and the neighbours. It is home."