In Gaza city, water trickles in only every few days, the internet has gone dark and the generators that once powered entire neighbourhoods lie silent. Shops are shuttered, their owners long having fled to the south. Food is scarce and fear is omnipresent, and yet many families are staying put.
For those who refuse to leave, remaining in Gaza is not merely about survival. It is an act of defiance – a refusal to abandon homes, neighbourhoods and histories to destruction.
In Al Shifa district, Amina Abu Sultan, 28, lives with nearly 20 relatives in a single house. Her family, which includes parents, uncles, cousins and siblings, has chosen to stay, despite the risks.
“Life in Gaza is almost impossible,” Miss Abu Sultan told The National. “There is no water, no internet, no electricity and even food is in short supply because most shop owners and street vendors have fled south.”
But the absence of necessities is only part of the hardship. “On top of the constant fear of bombardment and the advance of the occupation [Israeli] forces, we are left without even the most basic necessities of life. Sadly, no one is supporting us in our decision to remain in Gaza city,” she added.
On Sunday tanks advanced deep into Al Shifa Street and the Al Nasr neighbourhood, coming within 500 metres of Miss Abu Sultan's home before pulling back. “If they hadn’t, it could have been a massacre,” she said.
That same day, the tanks turned their attention to Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical complex. Inside, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the hospital's director, ordered an emergency relocation.
“We evacuated the reception and emergency department, as they were closest to the advancing tanks,” Dr Abu Salmiya explained to The National. “We moved those areas to the maternity ward in the south-western part of the hospital, and continued providing medical and emergency services.”
Al Shifa hospital director
The conditions are dire. Many medical staff have fled Gaza city, but some remain, treating the wounded and sick despite severe shortages of medicine, fuel and water. “The citizens of Gaza continue to persevere under the harshest conditions, without access to any of life's essentials,” Dr Abu Salmiya said.
Even getting to the hospital is fraught with danger. Ambulances can only operate in limited areas due to the Israeli military's presence and the constant shelling. “Gaza city urgently needs international intervention,” Dr Abu Salmiya said. “To save it from destruction, to support the resilience of medical teams and civilians and to deliver the essentials of life.”
But even the hospitals that remain operational are not safe. At Al Ahli Hospital, located in the heart of Gaza city, violence has taken a new and terrifying form. Nader Al Haw, 32, came to the hospital with his injured brother after an air strike on the Al Daraj neighbourhood. What he witnessed shocked him.
“An armed group of masked men, believed to be collaborators working with the Israeli army, opened heavy fire on Al Ahli Hospital,” Mr Al Haw told The National. “Two people were killed, others injured. The place was thrown into chaos – everyone there was either a doctor, a patient, or a civilian.”
He noted that such incidents are not isolated. “These militias operate in eastern Gaza, aiming to frighten civilians into fleeing south, after the occupation [Israel] failed to force them out with firepower alone.”
For countless civilians in Gaza city, leaving is not an option – even as survival becomes increasingly difficult. People are only able to move freely within a 3km radius inside the city.
“All of us are still here, refusing to leave because there is nowhere else to go,” Miss Abu Sultan says.
