In Rafah, Gazan refugees forced to shelter in graveyard: report
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Rafah: In Palestine's Rafah, a large group of displaced Gazans are forced to find shelter in a graveyard. Those huddled here say that they are in better shelter than in residential areas, where roofs might collapse over their head. They feel that they are at less risk of Israel's bombardment in an open place like a cemetery, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are now in shelter in Rafah, which is the southern edge of the enclave. However, Israel has announced that it will issue an attack on this region once it is done with Khan Younis.
One of those found shelter in the graveyard, Amer, told Reuters that everyday bodies are brought to the place to be buried, and they pray for the dead, asking mercy for them.
Besides the announced attack by Israel, those sheltered here are facing a lack of water and food.
Amer says that the dead are in comfort while only the living are in fear. Life has become for them all about death, he says, adding that even while they walk in the moment, every second, they see death in front of their eyes.
In a Monday attack on central Gaza, Israel razed down safe homes and a mosque in airstrikes. The attacks killed 30 people while rescue teams are searching for survivors, Al Jazeera reported.
There were health workers, patients and displaced Palestinians trapped inside the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. They were reported to be terrified for life. While Al Jazeera reporter Tareq Abu Azzoum does ground reporting about the incident, some footage shows Israeli snipers killing at least seven Palestinians in the vicinity.
Official statistics are that at least 27,478 were killed and 66,835 were wounded in Gaza since Hamas triggered war after its October 7 attacks on Israel.
However, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that around 100,000 people in Gaza were killed, injured or are currently missing after four months of war. This is around five per cent of the Gaza Strip's population, he said.