At dawn on October 7, 2023, Nahed Shuheibar drinks coffee with his sons, after prayer, on the balcony of their large house, which overlooks the most beautiful beach in Gaza, in the far north of the enclave. At the same time, Amal Nassar, six months pregnant, chats with other school teachers on a bus heading towards Rafah, on the southern border. Near the cabin where he spends most of his nights, in Beit Hanoun, Ahmad Al-Kafarneh already works in his father’s olive groves. From the top of a short limestone cliff, its view extends beyond the concrete walls that surround northern Gaza, towards the Israeli villages of Netiv Haasara and Zikim.
Suddenly, a rocket roars over the roof of the Shuheibar house, heading straight out to sea. “I wondered if Hamas was testing a launch pad. Then a second rocket went off, then a third and a fourth…”says this entrepreneur and clan leader, reached by telephone, like all those interviewed for this article, since Israel has banned international media from going to Gaza for a year. On her bus, Amal Nassar also hears Hamas shots ringing out. “Residents from eastern Rafah were fleeing far from the border. I was afraid for my children, I called my husband to ask him not to send them to school. »
Ahmad Al-Kafarneh, on his hill, understands very well what is happening. He is used to coming across Hamas militiamen in his fields hunting desperate Gazans who are trying to flee the enclave. “After the first rocket explosions, armed men crossed the border, by car, on motorcycles and even on foot! »he remembers. These militiamen are heading towards the Israeli military terminal of Erez, the northern gate to Gaza, whose anti-explosion walls are silhouetted behind a tin hamlet, a cornfield and a no man’s land. “We were sure the Israelis would shoot and kill them. We ran to take shelter in the village”says Ahmad.
“People were reporting crazy rumors”
Nahed Shuheibar rushed to the Beit Lahya market: “I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it would be serious and that we needed to stock up on food. People were reporting crazy rumors… And then, a little after 6:30 a.m., I saw some guys [du Hamas] who were driving towards the border and I was surprised, because they were not afraid to show their faces: they did not even wear masks. »
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