LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The U.N. says nearly all of Gaza's 2.1 million residents have been displaced - not just once, but numerous times - because of Israeli military evacuation orders. Israel says the orders are in place to move Palestinians to safety zones. In August, those orders, according to the U.N., ramped up as high as one every other day. The Biden administration has criticized the policy and told Israel it needs to change, according to a memo obtained by NPR. NPR Gaza producer Anas Baba and NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi brings us the story of families trapped in these overcrowded and perilous zones.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Dana Ekheil rapidly flips her hands back and forth to show dozens of red pockmarks covering her skin.
DANA EKHEIL: (Non-English language spoken, crying).
AL-SHALCHI: The 23-year-old sobs as she tells NPR's Gaza producer Anas Baba about contracting this angry infection that just won't go away. Ekheil says she can't get medicine and feels ugly.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: The two talk about how it was before the war, when Ekheil used to get ready to go out, brushing her hair in front of a mirror. She breaks a small smile and says, yes, she misses those times. Ekheil, her mother and four siblings have been ordered to move four times by Israel since the war broke out more than 10 months ago and has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to health officials. After the latest order, they ended up here, in a neighborhood of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. This block has been deemed now a so-called humanitarian safe zone by the Israeli military.
EKHEIL: (Non-English language spoken, crying).
AL-SHALCHI: "I'm sad. I just want to go back home to Gaza City," Ekheil says.
Despite the humanitarian title, these safe spaces have also been struck, sometimes killing dozens of Palestinians, according to health officials. Israel says it tries to warn Palestinians to evacuate well in advance of attacks and avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. But not only do Palestinians say they don't feel safe in these areas, Israel is setting aside fewer safe zones and sending more and more people there. Like this one - they're filthy, with little access to clean water, bathrooms or food. Ekheil's tent is pitched right next to a huge pile of garbage, surrounded by a pool of sewage water. Her mother, Samah, says the wretched liquid leaks into their tent.
SAMAH: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "There's a smell, insects, flies and mosquitoes," she says.
Ekheil's mother says their family tried to find a more stable shelter, but they were all full. All they could do was pitch this tent made of blankets, crammed right along other families.
SAMAH: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "If you breathe at night, your neighbor will hear you," Ekheil's mother says.
Nearby, still inside the humanitarian zone, some families did find a building still standing to shelter in. Producer Anas Baba opens its gate.
(SOUNDBITE OF GATE CRASHING)
AL-SHALCHI: It's an abandoned former prison. Inside are hundreds of empty cells and offices, each now filled with up to three families. The floor of the jail is dirty. The walls are covered with prisoners' graffiti. The bathrooms are too small for so many people. A young girl crouches, trying to clean a soiled toilet. Rania Jindiya has been living in a tiny cell with her three children for two weeks since they were ordered to evacuate.
RANIA JINDIYA: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "I have to wait in line from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. just to get some salty well water," she says.
Jindiya says this is no way to live. The only food that's available is canned.
JINDIYA: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "Canned food is cheap for us, but it's making us sick," she says.
Jindiya says the citizens of Gaza were not responsible for October 7, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Jindiya says she wants an end to the war.
JINDIYA: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "Please," she pleads, "to the nation of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - it's not our fault."
With Anas Baba in Khan Younis, Gaza, I'm Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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