While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Trump, both of whom are responsible for the rapidly deteriorating situation in Gaza, seven United Nations organizations just released the following statement about the urgency to save Palestinians in Gaza. Those agencies are:
- OCHA UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
- UNOPS UN Office for Project Services
- UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
- UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
- WFP UN World Food Programme
- WHO UN World Health Organization
- IOM UN International Organization for Migration
For over a month, no commercial or humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza. More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up, and vital equipment is stuck.
Over 1,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured in just the first week after the breakdown of the ceasefire, the highest one-week death toll among children in Gaza in the past year.
We are witnessing acts of war in Gaza that show an utter disregard for human life. New Israeli displacement orders have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee yet again, with no safe place to go. No one is safe. At least 408 humanitarian workers, including over 280 from UNRWA, have been killed since October 2023.
Joint UN Statement: World Must Act with Urgency to Save Palestinians in Gaza
Full Statement
Continuous Displacement
Palestinians in Gaza have been repeatedly forced to move, usually with no warning. And the Israeli Defense Forces attack the areas people are forced to go to.
An Ode to Rafah
Last week, I read the news that all residents of Rafah must evacuate. The words hit me like a thunderbolt, reopening wounds I thought had healed. Rafah was not just a place of displacement; it became a part of my soul, a space where I lived through unforgettable moments, balancing between pain and hope, fear and the sheer will to survive. I spent nearly five months there, each day etching itself deep into my memory.
I am from Gaza, from the south, specifically from Al-Zawayda Al-Sawarha, approximately 25 kilometers north of Rafah. My first journey to Rafah started on December 30, 2023. That day was a living nightmare, an uprooting from a place of safety and belonging. Leaving was not a choice; it was a forced separation.
I only had minutes to decide what to take. In the end, I carried one bag with essential items and one notebook — the one where I documented my journey with the English language, my progress, my efforts, my dreams. It felt like the last thread connecting me to my past life.
…
Now, as I typed the final period in this article, a deafening explosion tore through the air. The shrapnel near us was so close. Moments later, the news followed like a second wave: another evacuation order — our area, Al-Zawayda, was on the list. I felt a heat rise from my chest to my face. My hand was still on the keyboard, but my fingers froze. The room was silent, yet my mind was screaming.
The strike was so close, it felt like the wall was breathing with us, like the air itself had turned heavy. I sat in my room, lost in thought — not running, not moving, just choking on everything I couldn’t say.
For the first time, I feel like Gaza is not a home but a prison. How long will the home we left behind remain an unattainable dream? We are not just numbers on the news. We are souls carrying stories, memories, and a love for a land that keeps rejecting us, yet we refuse to let go. We carry untold stories, and we pray for the day we tell them — not as displaced souls, but as people returning to the homes that rightfully belong to us.
An ode to Rafah, as Israel orders the city to evacuate once again. Last week Israel ordered the evacuation of Rafah, the very place that has been a refuge for millions of Palestinians, including myself. As I read the news, the memories of my displacement to Rafah came flooding back. By Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi, Mondoweiss, April 7, 2025
Visualizing Palestine
The following graphics are from Visualizing Palestine.
unflinching 