Some 1.5 million Palestinians are now crammed into Rafah in Gaza's south. As Israel threatens an offensive in the city, they ask where they should go instead.
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00:00 Ahead of a likely escalation in the war between Hamas and Israel, Akram Al-Saidi is worried
00:07 about what it could mean for the city of Rafah.
00:12 Israel is preparing to launch a full-scale ground offensive here.
00:17 It means Akram and his family have to flee again, this time to central Gaza after living
00:22 in this tent for 40 days.
00:26 "I started to unpack the tent.
00:30 As you can see, we are heading to the central region because it's not safe here in Rafah
00:34 at all.
00:35 The important thing is that for many days the Israeli army has been threatening to enter
00:40 Rafah.
00:41 We want to go to the central region, hoping that some of it is left, even though it's
00:45 not safe there.
00:47 Safety is in God's hands."
00:53 Anxiety is on the rise for more than a million displaced people here.
00:58 Many families have been forced to move their tents from Rafah to other places in search
01:02 of safety.
01:09 Some were also left shaken by Israeli strikes that led to the freeing of two hostages inside
01:15 a house at the city's Shabura refugee camp.
01:19 "We were in Rafah, Tal Al-Sultan.
01:22 They were bombing next to it and many people died.
01:24 So we thought it would be better to go to the seaside.
01:26 Otherwise, where can we go?
01:28 To Israel?
01:29 Where do we go if Israel sweeps Rafah?
01:34 Where do we go?
01:35 Give us any place.
01:36 We are asking the Hamas government or the human beings in charge of the Gaza Strip to
01:41 come to us and give us a solution and provide us with shelter.
01:45 We are here, of course, and not going away."
01:50 As the war continues to disrupt the lives of people like Akram and his family, those
01:55 leaving Rafah hope this latest displacement will be the last one and that peace follows
02:01 soon.
02:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]