Can Palestinians trying to flee Israel’s Gaza strikes escape the danger?

The article titled 'Can Palestinians trying to flee Israel’s Gaza strikes escape the danger? ' discusses the plight of Palestinians in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. As Israel intensifies its air strikes, residents are being advised to move south towards Egypt's border. Fadi Daloul, a father of six, believed this to be a safer option and packed his belongings. However, the journey south is fraught with risks as Israel retaliates against Hamas, following a surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group. This conflict is the bloodiest since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Israel has launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated areas. The situation is expected to worsen, forcing residents to seek safe shelter. Despite the danger, many Gazans refuse to leave their homes, fearing a repeat of the 'Nakba' or 'catastrophe', when many Palestinians were displaced during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation. Some are waiting at the Egypt-controlled Rafah crossing, hoping for safe passage from Gaza. For Daloul, his family's survival is the priority as Israeli air strikes flatten buildings in Gaza. He is among the thousands who fled from the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, fearing a ferocious ground invasion. 'We live under stress,' he said. 'Children, as you see … where should we take them? Especially when we left (our house), we saw on the way people burnt and hit by air strikes. Thank God we are safe and reached the south. ' Hamas has advised people not to leave, citing unsafe roads. Israel, on the other hand, accuses Hamas of preventing people from leaving to use them as human shields, a claim Hamas denies. Gaza, a small coastal strip of land between Israel and Egypt, is home to approximately 2. 3 million people who have been living under a blockade since Hamas took control in 2007. Israel claims to have kept two roads open for people to escape, but displaced Palestinians say Israeli bombings around these roads have not ceased. Two days ago, 70 Palestinians were reportedly killed and 200 wounded when Israeli planes bombed vehicles carrying displaced Gazans, according to Hamas-run health ministry and Hamas official media. However, this claim has not been independently verified. Daloul described the difficulty of leaving his home when Israel started dropping pamphlets over Gaza instructing people to leave. His family experienced extreme anxiety, especially at night. 'There was a traffic jam. Some cars got bombed by air strikes. During the night, the children hugged me and started to cry and screamed: ‘Save us, Save us’. How can we save them? When we left the house, we kissed the walls on our way out. This is migration and we don’t know how long it will last. We hope that the world can see us, and see how we live. Look, we had a home, walls, and water, but now we live in a tent,' he said. Israel maintains that its evacuation order is a humanitarian gesture to protect residents while it roots out Hamas fighters. However, the United Nations warns that moving such a large number of people within Gaza could lead to a humanitarian disaster. Daloul’s daughter Sahar lamented the lack of safe places to hide from air strikes. 'All of our life is lived in misery. We don’t know how to live. There is no one to save us or come after us. How will we live? How? ' she said. Even if residents wanted to flee Gaza entirely, they have nowhere to go as the most obvious exit would be through Egypt, a move Cairo rejects. Cairo, a frequent mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, insists that conflicts must be resolved within their borders, arguing that this is the only way Palestinians can secure their right to statehood.