‘We miraculously fled amid ear-splitting shelling’published at 14:01 BST

14:01 BST

Ethar Shalaby
BBC News Arabic

From inside a make-shift tent in al-Rimal neighbourhood in
Gaza City, Amjad al-Nawati, a 33-year-old Palestinian, tells me over the phone
that he and his family have their backpacks packed with essentials, and are ready
to flee towards al-Nussairat – the closest point to which they can head to
after Israel started its ground operation last night.

“I can see many of the people around me in neighbouring
tents have fled already, but I am waiting until I see the tanks coming closer
to us,” al-Nawati, who used to work as a
therapist, says.

He says the “ear-splitting sounds of the heavy bombardment”
all night have made his disabled brother, Ahmed, aged 25 suffer tantrums and a
deprived sleep.

“He (Ahmed) kept putting his hand on his ears all night and
trembling from fear. I had to calm him and tell him we are leaving soon. It was
one of the worst nights in his life,” al-Nawati says.

I also spoke to others who have already fled Gaza City for safer areas.

Essam Shawa, a 40-year-old carpenter, left with his family
of four from Gaza City to Deir al-Balah last night. They walked for around 12
hours, taking only short breaks.

“We left without even taking our things. No clothes, no
belongings, nothing! It was miraculous how we managed to survive the shelling
in al-Tuffah and get out. It was a long walk and we are all weary,” he says.

As they were fleeing, Shawa said he could hear the sounds of
the Israeli tanks, “which meant they were present close to us, but we didn’t
see it”. Other family members of Shawa are still unable to leave the al-Tuffah area due to the heavy shelling, he says.

I ask him about his wife and he says: “My wife and kids are
now sitting beside me am currently sitting in a tent in Deir al-Balah and we
are desperate not knowing what we will do.”

Shawa’s wife Ayat tells me her children “paid the heaviest
price” during their journey .“It was hard for me to find a place for them to
go to the toilet or feed them. They kept crying all the way and it was a long
treacherous trip”.