All the way from Gaza City to Zawaida, four-year-old Omar al-Khodary sat in shock. The devastation that lined the roads left him speechless.
When they arrived, he cried – "who will I play with now?". In Gaza City, the family lived together with relatives, including a cousin of Omar's age.
This is the third time the al-Khodary family is fleeing. Shortly after the outbreak of war in 2023, they left their home in Gaza City and fled to al-Mawasi in southern Gaza. During their time in the refugee camp, their apartment back home was destroyed in an Israeli attack, but the family chose to head north when the first ceasefire came into effect, in January 2024.
Children heard tanks
Fleeing is getting harder and harder, says Maysaa al-Khodary, who TT has been in contact with several times during the war. Not least for the three sons. But when Israel's plans to capture Gaza City became clearer, they made up their minds. In the days leading up to the escape to Zawaida, the shots echoed constantly.
"Until August, the situation was okay, they only shot a little around us. But then it reached our neighborhood. I have been so scared," she writes in a message to TT.
"The other day, a tent under the building we lived in was bombed. My nephew was injured. I can't even describe how loud the explosion was."
But it's not just a matter of traveling. When hundreds of thousands leave at the same time, the escape turns into a logistical nightmare. For four days, Maysaa al-Khodary searched for a car and a driver who could take the family south. When she finally got a response, the price was a shock: 800 dollars for a journey of just under 1.5 miles. To get the cash, she was forced to pay an additional 250 dollars in commission.
In the car, she murmured verses from the Koran. She had read about a family that was attacked by Israel on the road south.
"My boys were so scared. They heard shots, tanks firing."
Leave school
Several relatives remained in Gaza City, including her siblings, the injured nephew, and Omar's favorite cousin. Maysaa al-Khodary notices how the children are increasingly affected by the war, by having to pack up their lives and start over time and time again.
"In Gaza City, they had started school again. Now they can't continue their education.”
According to the UN, nine out of ten schools in Gaza are in ruins, but organizations such as Unicef have set up places where children can gather and learn. The al-Khodary children were overjoyed to be back in school.
Now the family is renting a house in Zawaida in central Gaza, also at an exorbitant price. They do not know how long they can stay; if Israel's bombs will reach there as well and force the family to flee again.
"It's a half-finished house surrounded by destroyed buildings. And there is no guarantee that it is safe here."
