‘There are no safe places’ in southern Gaza says member of Norwegian Refugee Council

We spoke to Gavin Kelleher from the Norwegian Refugee Council, who’s in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and began by asking him to describe the situation in Gaza right now.

Gavin Kelleher: The situation in Gaza continues to be completely catastrophic. Last month was the lowest amount of aid that we’ve got into the strip since this time last year. Military violence continues at extremely alarming rates on an hourly basis. Just 19 minutes or so before I started speaking to you, there was an airstrike so close to this guest house that the lights outside fell onto the grounds and shattered. But what we’re most concerned about is the developments of today in northern Gaza and what that could mean for the populations trapped there.

Matt Frei: This is the evacuation order issued by the IDF, and of course, it’s not the first time they’ve ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza. That’s how the whole ground operation started almost a year ago. Why are they calling for that evacuation now?

Gavin Kelleher: The reasons for the Israeli security forces’ actions, I can’t speak to, but what I can tell you is there are 430,000 people still in northern Gaza. They’ve been there since this war began, and they’ve been determined to maintain their presence in their homes, or at least close to them. Six of them, my own colleagues from this organisation. Right now, we’re hearing reports that thousands have already started leaving Jabalia camp in Gaza North Governorate as Israeli security forces have been moving tanks through the camps and forcefully directing people to leave. But what we’re not seeing yet is a flow of people south into central and southern areas of Gaza where, as we already know, there are not enough humanitarian aid supplies here and there are no safe places for them to achieve security or have their needs met.

Matt Frei: Just to remind people, the level of physical destruction in Gaza is so intense that something like two thirds of the buildings that were there before the war are no longer there now. Is that right?

Gavin Kelleher: Yes, that’s absolutely correct. We’ve also seen the systematic targeting of water infrastructure. I think the latest report said around 95% of educational buildings, talking about schools there, have been damaged or fully destroyed. We’ve seen entire cities levelled here, and the airstrikes continue. Sometimes several strikes in minutes. Also here in Deir al Balah, the strike you mentioned at the mosque is just a kilometre and a half away from where I’m sitting. So there’s no reprieve in Gaza.

Matt Frei: The people in this square in Tel Aviv I’m talking to you from, they’re concerned about their loved ones, the families of the hostages that are still stuck inside Gaza either alive or dead. And then, of course, there are the people in Gaza who are concerned about their families. Is there a feeling overall that this conflict, this war, just has no end in sight and no one is thinking about the future, what happens afterwards?

Gavin Kelleher: I can tell you there’s very little optimism about the future of Gaza. Even if the war was to stop today, with the destruction of educational facilities, destruction of homes, businesses, livelihoods, people will be dying for years from the results of the war we’ve already had so far. There is no optimism here about a ceasefire. And again, with the projections of northern Gaza being now potentially forcefully transferred into southern Gaza, the situation looks set to get even worse in the coming days.