'#SaveNorthGaza': Palestinians call out for help online as Israel orders expulsions
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.
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"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."
🧵"Notify the roughly 300,000 residents who stayed in northern Gaza Strip... We order you to leave... In a week the entire area will become a military zone... No supply will enter"
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) September 12, 2024
A new campaign called "The Generals' Plan" was launched, created by Maj. Gen. (Res.) Giora Eiland. https://t.co/rHP3xRrhzp pic.twitter.com/lahxCF2afh
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.
Israeli occupation forces have asked all residents of northern Gaza (300k+) to evacuate as a means of ethnically cleansing North Gaza . However, they then besieged Jabalia refugee camp, and when people tried to leave, they were shot at by snipers. Many residents are on the…
— حسام شبات (@HossamShabat) October 8, 2024
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".
Breaking News:
— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) October 9, 2024
Just moments ago, while conducting our journalistic duties, we came under fire from Israeli drones. Additionally, anyone attempting to leave the camp was targeted. pic.twitter.com/wKu4QiE4f1
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"
I am Dr. Ezzideen, working at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. For the past two days, the road to the hospital has been blocked, and we haven’t been able to reach it. Today, the hospital was threatened with evacuation, or it will be bombed. Many of my fellow doctors are…
— Dr. Ezzideen (@ezzingaza) October 8, 2024
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".
The Killing in Gaza Has RAMPED UP, Especially the Ethnic Cleansing in the North - #SaveNorthGaza
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) October 8, 2024
I۰F has given a 24-hour ultimatum to clear Kamal Adwan Medical Complex, threatening healthcare in northern G۸Z۸
368th Day - 56 Martyrs
367th Day - 39 Martyrs
366th Day - 45… pic.twitter.com/9E9rzPCu6e
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.
Palestinians who were sheltering at the Fallujah school in northern Gaza said they received warnings from the Israeli military on Tuesday ordering them to evacuate within five minutes. pic.twitter.com/Yrdi9jxocb
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) October 9, 2024
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."
“I shrouded my mother with my own hands”: Zamzam, a 15-year-old girl, appeals for her and her mother's body, along with her family, to be evacuated from a besieged building in northern #Gaza, where the Israeli army is committing massacres against civilians who refuse forced… pic.twitter.com/A6XWLbsaT8
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) October 9, 2024
Many family members outside of the Gaza Strip are posting updates about their relatives trapped in the refugee camp.
My uncle's wife, whose husband and eldest son Issa were martyred, is trapped in Jabalia. There is no ambulance or anything to transport them. She is appealing, but no one is responding. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.
— Mahmoud from Gaza 🇵🇸 (@MahmoudMassri15) October 9, 2024
"Thousands of people are surrounded by Israeli tanks in Jabalia, including my sister and my nephews and nieces," Ahmed Masoud posted on X.
Thousands of people are surrounded by Israeli tanks in Jabalia, including my sister & my nephews & nieces. Israel is shooting anyone who is trying to leave. They've run out of food or water. How can this possibly be allowed to happen? And the worst part is that we can all see it
— Ahmed Masoud (@masoud_ahmed) October 9, 2024
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.
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