Khan Younis, Gaza Strip - July 22, 2024

The displaced people in Gaza are lamenting the lack of safe havens as the entire region becomes a perilous zone with nowhere to go following a new evacuation order given by the Israel Defense Forces on Monday morning.

The evacuation order was for the residents of the eastern area of Khan Younis, urging them to quickly relocate to areas west of Khan Younis.

A correspondent of the China Media Group (CMG) found that over 500,000 displaced people in Gaza are carrying their belongings as they leave the eastern area of Khan Younis, heading towards what the Israeli military claims to be the safe areas, which are anything but safe.

According to local media reports and information gathered by the CMG correspondent, the Israeli military provided little time for the civilian evacuation and swiftly carried out intense and widespread airstrikes and shelling.

People said they were forced to flee with minimal belongings, facing fuel shortages and difficult road conditions. Most of them had to evacuate on foot, with the roads lined with remnants of buildings destroyed by previous Israeli attacks.

Shotlist:
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip - July 22, 2024:
1. Various of displaced people fleeing, destroyed buildings;
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muhammad (full name not given/starting with shot 1/ending with shot 3):
"We were at home and suddenly someone told us to evacuate. We were startled by the sound of gunshots from all directions. This is at least the fifth time I've had to flee, the fifth time!";
3. Various of displaced people fleeing;
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walid (full name not given/starting with shot 3/ending with shot 5):
"We were not prepared to evacuate. We could only run with women and children. There were no transportation options and it was difficult to find any. The roads were crowded with people, and the roads were bombed and in ruins, making it difficult to walk. There's intense gunfire, shelling, and airstrikes everywhere.";
5. Displaced people fleeing;
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan (full name not given/starting with shot 5/ending with shot 7):
"We evacuated from the eastern area of Khan Younis, as the Israeli military told us to move to a safe area. But there is no safe place. Everywhere is the same. Along the way, there were only bombings and airstrikes. There is no safe place. Even on the journey of escape, we faced Israeli airstrikes. We don't know where to go. We just followed the crowd until we reached here.";
7. Various of displaced people fleeing, vehicles running;
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yusef (full name not given/starting with shot 7/ending with shot 9):
"I have a cousin who died in the eastern area of Khan Younis, and another cousin was injured. We miraculously survived and escaped from there. The situation is extremely difficult. This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've had to flee.";
9. Displaced people fleeing, vehicles running.

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