Sabreen Abd Rabu, her husband and their three kids had solely lately arrived on the Rafah crossing on the southern border of the Gaza Strip when the missile hit.
The blast struck only a hundred metres away from the place the household stood, carrying little greater than their baggage and the garments on their backs.
They have been among the many lots of of Palestinians trying to flee into Egypt when an Israeli air strike occurred.
“We solely wished to go away,” Sabreen, an artwork instructor and resident of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, informed Al Jazeera. “Even escape appears to be denied for folks like us, the Palestinians.”
Because the Israel-Hamas struggle stretches into its second week, bombs have continued to fall on Gaza, a slender strip of coastal land that’s residence to greater than 2 million Palestinians.
The hazard has prompted many households, like Sabreen’s, to look overseas for security. An Israeli blockade on Gaza has left fundamental provides scarce, and the Israeli military ordered 1 million folks to evacuate final week, forward of an anticipated floor invasion.
However displaced residents are discovering entry to frame crossings restricted — and threatening.
On the time the bomb exploded on the Rafah crossing, Sabreen’s husband Ahmed had been arranging the paperwork for his or her journey. That they had by no means left Gaza earlier than, they usually have been centered on the journey forward, reasonably than the hazard about to rain down from above.
“The bottom shook, and we have been abruptly enveloped in unconsciousness amidst the swirling sand,” Sabreen mentioned.
Each she and Ahmed fell to the bottom. The seconds they spent mendacity flat felt like an eternity. Scrambling again to their toes, they started the frantic seek for their kids amid the smoke.
“I couldn’t even inform if I used to be injured or not. All that mattered to me was guaranteeing the security of my kids. However even that straightforward job appeared not possible after the air strike,” Sabreen recalled.
Chaos unfold within the wake of the blast. Kids and infants outnumbered adults, in keeping with witnesses, and households rushed to get their paperwork accomplished, so they may escape the missile barrage by crossing into Egypt.
Ahmed observed that some bystanders have been barely injured. However, he added, he was “grateful to God that nobody was killed”. After the bombing, he and Sabreen mentioned they have been turned away from the border crossing.
“The authorities tried to [tell us] that it was for our security and that they might reschedule our journey later. However we predict we may have gone by way of,” Sabreen mentioned.
“We have been informed to return to Gaza, which suggests again to the horror and concern and dying that we had considered escaping,” she continued, her voice brimming with desperation. “Whose fault is that? We didn’t even have the psychological power to argue.”
It was a setback for his or her plans to cross into Egypt and, from there, journey to Istanbul, the place Sabreen’s brother lives.
“My brother had despatched us tourism visas to elevate us from the fixed concern and battle for security,” she mentioned, “When he discovered a struggle had simply struck Gaza, he referred to as me and mentioned it’s time to get out.”
Now, Sabreen, Ahmed and the youngsters are again the place they began: in Khan Younis. The household is staying on the residence of their family members, the place area is at a premium.
”We’re over twenty folks in the identical condominium,” Sabreen mentioned, “holding onto one another’s fingers and praying for our security, proper the place we’re.”
Their household has deep roots in Gaza. For 3 generations, the Abd Rabus had grown up dwelling underneath the identical roof, in the identical metropolis.
“Even when we may journey, our Palestinian id would stay unwavering,” she mentioned. “We’d finally return to Gaza as a result of it’s our residence, it’s our every thing.”
She sees the present battle as a part of a higher effort to expel the Palestinian folks from their homeland.
“We perceive that Israel, by way of varied means, seeks to displace the Palestinian folks from Gaza,” Sabreen mentioned. “Nonetheless, our willpower to dwell right here, to exist right here and to construct our futures right here stays unyielding.”
Regardless of the dire circumstances, Sabreen stays optimistic that her household’s battle won’t be in useless.
“Right this moment or 100 years from now, the Palestinian folks will endure,” she mentioned. “Resilient and protracted, we refuse to bow to the occupation’s techniques of terror and oppression.”
