GazaHerald – According to UN figures, about 1 million Palestinians were living in Gaza City before Israel began leveling high-rises and ordering residents to flee south last month. Stephane Dujjaric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that in the past few days alone, nearly 70,000 people have headed south, primarily to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. Over the past month, humanitarian groups counted about 150,000 such movements.
“People are fleeing using the Al Rashid Road, which is the only route available for movement to the south and is extremely congested, to say the least,” Dujjaric noted.
The Israeli military, for its part, claims that more than 320,000 Palestinians have already left Gaza City, including 20,000 in a single night.
Defiance in the Streets
Yet despite these numbers, the vast majority of Gaza’s population remains in place. The government media office in Gaza reported that more than 1.2 million people are still in Gaza City and the north, steadfast in their homes and refusing to be displaced.
Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the office, said Israel is committing the crime of “forced displacement” by bombing residential areas, cutting off essentials of life, and issuing evacuation orders under fire. “This crime violates all international laws,” he stressed.
Residents say they are living under constant psychological pressure as Israeli forces give them only minutes to evacuate before destroying their neighborhoods with artillery, drones, or booby-trapped robots. Despite this, many insist that leaving would mean permanent exile.
“Leaving our homeland is not an option,” one resident said.
That spirit was on full display last week when hundreds marched through Al-Saraya Square under the banner “March of the Shrouds… We Will Not Leave the City.” Organized by tribes, families, and medical staff, the demonstration was both a protest and a declaration of collective defiance.
Even as Israel intensifies strikes on high-rises and signals that a broader ground invasion is imminent, most Gazans say they would rather endure bombardment than abandon their city.
Israeli estimates suggest tens of thousands more may flee in the coming weeks, particularly as the humanitarian situation worsens and neighborhoods are flattened. But for now, Gaza City remains largely populated, with most residents choosing to face death over displacement.
