Trending |
Gaza Siege

'#SaveNorthGaza': Palestinians call out for help online as Israel orders expulsions

People trapped in besieged Jabalia refugee camp are urging international community to intervene as forced displacement looms
A Palestinian inspects a flyer dropped by Israeli army ordering people to flee the area, in Jabalia, north of Gaza City, on 6 October 2024 (Omar al-Qatta/AFP)
By Maysa Mustafa
Published date: 9 October 2024 22:25 BST | Last update: 5 days 13 hours ago

Over the last week, Palestinians in northern Gaza – specifically in the Jabalia refugee camp – have taken to social media to reach out for help as the Israeli military begins to enact the "general's plan", which aims to forcibly expel upwards of 400,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza. 

Israeli forces have heavily bombarded the north with air strikes and have put the Jabalia refugee camp under complete siege. 

The plan was introduced last month by retired army general and former head of national security Giora Eiland in an Israeli television campaign.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters


"It's not that we suggest you leave northern Gaza Strip, but we order you to leave the northern Gaza Strip. In a week, all the area of northern Gaza Strip will become a military zone and no supply will enter this zone." 

The army, which dropped leaflets over the camp and other areas of northern Gaza on Monday, ordered all Palestinians to flee south to the already overcrowded Mawasi "humanitarian zone", an area which has repeatedly been targeted by Israeli forces in the year-long war. 

However, the interior ministry in Gaza told residents in the north not to leave, stating that Israel had previously issued such expulsion orders but did not ensure safe passages for civilians. 

Journalists have spearheaded efforts online in calling for intervention in northern Gaza, posting updates about the Jabalia refugee camp on all social media platforms. 

Journalist Hossam Shabat alerted his followers on X that when Israeli forces besieged Jabalia and people attempted to listen to "evacuation" orders, they were reportedly shot at by snipers.

"Please share what's happening in the north," Shabat wrote. 

In only a few hours on Wednesday, multiple journalists in northern Gaza were targeted, including Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi al-Wahidi, who is in critical condition after being shot by a sniper in the neck.

Two journalists, Omar al-Balaawi and Mohammed al-Tanani also died on Wednesday. 

Anas al-Sharif was also targeted on Wednesday by Israeli strikes, and said that "anyone attempting to leave the camp was targeted". 

Hospital personnel from the three hospitals in the north - Kamal Adwan, the Indonesian and al-Awda - have also urged the international community to intervene after Israeli forces issued a 24-hour "evacuation" notice for their facilities. 

"Today, the hospital was threatened with evacuation, or it will be bombed," a doctor from the Indonesian hospital wrote on X. "Many of my fellow doctors are trapped inside, unable to leave as quadcopter drones target any movement around the hospital. #SaveNorthGaza" 

The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, posted a video online, saying that the attacks on the hospitals "is a dangerous measure that threatens the collapse of the healthcare system in the northern Gaza Strip". 

Palestinians have taken to their social media accounts to relay the horrors they're experiencing on the ground.

"They (Israeli forces) are ripping through houses with bullets so that whoever is inside them will either be killed immediately or turn himself in for execution," one social media user posted from the ground. 

"We are waiting for our turn to die, nothing more." 

"We were contacted and told to evacuate the Fallujah school and you have five minutes to leave,” said a woman carrying a backpack and her child as she fled the school in Jabalia.

Another clip that has gone viral shows 15-year-old Zamzam al-Ajrami, who asked: "Please try to get us out - my mom, my aunt, my sisters and I. I'm 15 years old, What have I done to the Israelis? I shrouded my mother with my own hands.

"I saw her taking her last breaths and I couldn't do anything." 

Many family members outside of the Gaza Strip are posting updates about their relatives trapped in the refugee camp. 

"Thousands of people are surrounded by Israeli tanks in Jabalia, including my sister and my nephews and nieces," Ahmed Masoud posted on X.  

Another social media user said that when he called to check in on his family to see if they were going to flee their home, his mother responded: "We have spent our lives claiming our commitment, and what better time than this to prove before God and before ourselves the truth of our claim?"

A photo of a conversation between a daughter and her father, deciding on whether or not they should attempt to flee Jabalia has been circulating online as well.

"The north or heaven?" the father repeatedly texted his daughter. 

"Heaven," she responded. 

Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.

Read more

Israel's war on Gaza
Palestinians ordered to flee northern Gaza as Israel moves towards 'general's plan'
Israel's war on Gaza
27 people trapped in northern Gaza hospital as Israeli siege continues
Israel's war on Gaza
October 7, one year on: Israel’s massacres in Gaza