Image Source: CNN
Occupied Gaza Strip – Israel’s military has issued another forced displacement order to residents of Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, threatening an “unprecedented” assault. The displacement order, posted on X, also applied to areas of Bani Suhaila and Abasan, calling on Palestinians to evacuate to the Al-Mawasi area.
However, according to Ahmad Abadla from Khan Younis, the Al-Mawasi area is overcrowded, lacks basic infrastructure, and cannot support the influx of displaced people.
Abadla, who recently fled Gaza and is currently in Sydney, described the situation on the ground as “beyond dire.” He explained that Al-Mawasi, once a fertile agricultural zone, has remained largely undeveloped since the withdrawal of Israeli settlements in 2005.
“By design, that area is empty of all resources. And so, if there is a food truck or any resources for food or medical equipment that people need from Al-Mawasi, they have to travel for a very long time, given the lack of transportation at the moment, to get a few cans of beans. And so, it’s incredibly difficult for people to move to get those resources,” Abadla said.
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Displaced Again Amid Genocide and Starvation
Since long before Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Palestinians have been forced out of their homes, their cities levelled, and their lives upended by decades of occupation and violence. Abadla described how his own family was forced to flee their home months ago.
Recently, his brother, sister-in-law, and their child had to evacuate again and reunite with the family in Al-Mawasi. This journey would typically take 10 minutes by car, but is now almost impossible due to the destruction and lack of infrastructure.
“It’s a horrible feeling, you know, to kind of hear that your neighbourhood, the place where you grew up, spent your childhood, all the places you’re familiar with,the shops, the mosques, the villages and so on, they’re all completely flattened. It’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said.
Moreover, the psychological toll of being displaced repeatedly is equally devastating. Abadla described how people have grown numb to the relentless trauma.
Families have exhausted every mental and emotional coping mechanism. Fear or panic is no longer just a quiet, overwhelming exhaustion. Even survival has become mechanical, stripped of feeling.
“I can’t even call it genocide anymore. It’s beyond the Holocaust, to be honest. People are being burned in their tents, and so it’s nerve-wracking. It’s beyond, it’s beyond the human capacity to kind of withstand the situation psychologically.”
“But people learn how to adapt. And my family tell me that they’ve grown numb from the current situation. They can’t feel any longer.”
“People walking down the street, talking to themselves, trying to cope. They’ve exhausted all of the mechanisms in terms of psychological and mental resilience, but they still live. It’s beyond me to try to fathom how they’re holding their ground and not, you know, collapsing completely,” he said.
