Palestinians Flee Chaos And Panic In Rafah After Israel’s Seizure Of Border Crossing

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SARAH EL DEEB and LEE KEATH (Associated Press) RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings from Rafah, dragging families on a new exodus. The main hospital has shut down, leaving little care for people suffering from malnutrition, illnesses and wounds. And with fuel and other supplies cut off, aid workers have been scrambling to help a population desperate after seven months of war. As the possibility of a full-scale invasion looms, Gaza’s overcrowded southernmost city has been thrown into panic and chaos by Israel’s seizure of the nearby border crossing with Egypt. Families already uprooted multiple times by the war were uncertain where to go: to the half-destroyed city of Khan Younis, to points even farther north, or to an Israeli-declared “humanitarian zone” already teeming with people with little water or supplies? The past three days, streams of people on foot or in vehicles have jammed the roads out of Rafah in a confused evacuation, their belongings piled high in cars, trucks and donkey carts.