Ibrahim Dahman and his family stepped into the hotel room, gazing out at the serene blue of the Mediterranean Sea. Their two young sons couldn't contain their excitement upon spotting a sparkling swimming pool just below their window. However, this was no ordinary vacation.
As they made their way down in the elevator a little later, Dahman's 11-year-old son, Zaid, nervously questioned, "But they don't attack... they don't attack hotels, right?"
But for Dahman, this period brings a sense of distinctiveness. Although he yearns to persist in his duty of narrating the tales of individuals in Gaza, he now wrestles with the actuality of ensuring the safety of his family simultaneously.
In the midst of the escalating crisis, countless civilians, including Dahman and his family, find themselves trapped. Unlike their counterparts in Israel, there is no presence of warning sirens, bomb shelters, or sophisticated Iron Dome defense system in Gaza to intercept projectiles. Since being jolted awake by the relentless sound of rocket fire from Gaza during Hamas's initial assault over a week ago, Dahman has not ceased working. This event marked the beginning of what US President Joe Biden has referred to as the most significant massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.
By Monday, the hitherto serene office building in the exquisite, affluent neighborhood favored by press offices and foreign and international institutions had turned bustling and lively.
As the airstrikes drew near, he described witnessing explosions and smoke from his office. Journalists in the CNN-shared building were informed by the Israeli army that nearby residents should evacuate. In a rush to reach his home just minutes away, Dahman anticipated working remotely. However, he was taken aback to discover that his house lacked essential utilities such as electricity, water, and internet.
He stated, "While I did experience a sense of partial security, it is crucial to acknowledge that the Gaza Strip is fraught with danger. There is no guarantee of safety, and no region can be deemed completely secure."
Throughout Monday to Wednesday, he persistently attended to his family's wellbeing, while simultaneously updating on the most recent advancements. Physically and mentally drained, he struggled to find respite, managing to sleep only a few hours each night, if at all.
Families clustered along the corridors downstairs, their young children either asleep or finding solace in their parents' embrace. In the stairwells, people sat cross-legged on the floor, anxiously tapping away on their phones, desperately trying to reach out to friends and family.
Meanwhile, upstairs, deafening explosions reverberated through the air, while billowing clouds of smoke ominously inched nearer. Israeli warplanes relentlessly pounded the overcrowded enclave.
As Dahman witnessed the unfolding scene, he realized the urgency of withdrawing his family.
"The intensity of the airstrikes on the residential towers caught me off guard. I never imagined I'd survive," he recounted. "It was an incredibly trying period, especially considering my wife is in her second trimester. The fear of something tragic befalling her consumed me."
Israel issued an evacuation order on Friday, instructing the 1.1 million residents in the northern region of the enclave to relocate southward in order to avoid potential danger from a potential ground incursion.
Dahman and his family followed the designated evacuation route along Salah al-Deen Street to make a daunting one-hour journey towards the city of Khan Younis.
Dahman's immediate family emerged unharmed from the situation. Although they have not completely avoided the relentless airstrikes, they now feel more secure as they have found shelter in a four-story house belonging to a family member in Khan Younis. More than 200 individuals, including women, children, and the elderly, have sought refuge here after leaving their homes in the northern region.
In recent days, the humanitarian situation has been rapidly deteriorating. The healthcare system is on the verge of collapse, and due to the ongoing siege, it has become nearly impossible to deliver much-needed aid to this area where there is a critical shortage of essential supplies.
"The healthcare system in that area has long been extremely fragile and has been regarded as a chronic humanitarian emergency for many years. However, it has now deteriorated into a complete catastrophe," said Avril Benoit, the executive director of Doctors without Borders, in an interview with CNN on Saturday.
Dahman never anticipated becoming a part of this narrative, but he is now among the thousands who have been displaced by the conflict, compelled to flee with his family for their safety, leaving behind their home, loved ones, and everything they once knew. The most recent estimates from Israel suggest that approximately 500,000 individuals have evacuated from northern Gaza to the south in response to the warning issued by the IDF on Friday.
Palestinians carry a person wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Monday, October 16.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Shir Torem/Reuters
Israeli army soldiers patrol at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15.
People carry children as they flee following an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, October 15.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Palestinian children look at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Rafah, Gaza, on October 15.
Hatem Ali/AP
Francisco Seco/AP
People react at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Saturday, October 14.
Eli Albag weeps over a photograph of his daughter, Liri, while joining others in a protest held in Tel Aviv, Israel. The demonstration aims to demand the release of over 100 Israelis who were kidnapped in a recent Hamas attack. This poignant moment was captured on October 14, in a photo by Francisco Seco/AP.
Mohammed Talatene/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images
Palestinians rescue a wounded man from the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza, on October 13.
Hatem Ali/AP
Israelis take cover after hearing warning sirens of incoming rockets fired from Gaza in Rehovot, Israel, on October 13.
Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on October 13.
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Saher Alghorra/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Abraham Cohen at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Thursday, October 12.
Francisco Seco/AP
The funeral ceremony for Valentin Ghnassia took place at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on October 12. Ghnassia lost his life in a intense clash with Hamas militants in Be'eri, Israel.
An Israeli soldier patrols near the Nova music festival grounds near Be'eri, Israel, on October 12.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
A morgue worker arranges body bags at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 12.
Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12.
Ibrahim Hams/AFP/Getty Images
A Palestinian woman covered in dust and dirt carries a child in Gaza City on October 12.
An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday, October 11.
Baz Ratner/AP
Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
An aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City on October 11.
Mourners react beside the body of Mapal Adam during her funeral in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 11.
Francisco Seco/AP
Abed Zagout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers load donated food into the back of a military vehicle in Sderot, Israel, on October 11.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Baz Ratner/AP
In Modiin Maccabim, Israel, on October 11, Itzik and Miriam Shafir can be seen at the center, grieving during the funeral of their son. Tragically, Dor Shafir and his girlfriend, Savion Kiper, lost their lives in an appalling attack by Hamas during a music festival on Saturday.
A boy carries salvaged belongings from the wreckage of his family's home in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 11.
Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Palestinians mourn during the funeral of a relative killed in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City on October 10.
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers take position in Kfar Aza near the border with Gaza on October 10.
Palestinians rescue a young girl from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following an Israeli airstrike on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Israelis in Ashkelon take cover in a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets on October 10.
People gather around the bodies of two Palestinian reporters, Mohammed Soboh and Said al-Tawil, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Israelis mourn as they attend the funeral of Israel Defense Forces soldier Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg at Mount Herzel Cemetery in Jerusalem, on October 10.
A Palestinian man reacts as he carries the body of his cousin who was pulled from the rubble after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday, October 9.
Belal Khaled/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
A photo from a wedding is seen on the ground of a building in Ashkelon that was hit by rockets from Gaza on October 9.
People take shelter in Jerusalem on October 9.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Friends and relatives of Ilai Bar Sade mourn next to his grave during his funeral at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 9.
Erik Marmor/AP
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers take position near the border between Gaza and Israel on October 9.
A Palestinian man mourns over the body of his nephew killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 9.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israeli soldiers work on a tank at the border between Israel and Gaza on October 9.
Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/picture-alliance/AP
A plume of smoke rises in the sky over Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on October 9.
The mother of Israeli Col. Roi Levy cries during her son's funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on October 9.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
Israelis view a damaged residential building in Ashkelon after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza on October 9.
Tali Touito reacts as she describes how Hamas gunmen attacked and took over the police station on her street, in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday, October 8.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Fire and smoke rise from Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 8.
A relative of an Israeli missing since the attacks is overcome by emotion during a press conference in Ramat Gan, Israel, on October 8.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Israelis inspect the rubble of a building in Tel Aviv on October 8, a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza.
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from Gaza on October 8.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Palestinians search the rubble of a home in Khan Younis that was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on October 8.
Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 8.
Ahmad Hasballah/Getty Images
Amir Cohen/Reuters
A woman runs to her family's reinforced concrete shelter moments after rocket sirens sounded in Ashkelon on October 7.
From the window of his family's apartment, a man surveys damage from a rocket that struck a parking lot in Ashkelon on October 7.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
Fatima Shbair/AP
Palestinians break into the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, after gunmen infiltrated parts of southern Israel on October 7.
Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
Smoke rises over Gaza during Israeli airstrikes on October 7.
An Israeli woman reacts over the body of her relative who was killed in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on October 7.
Baz Ratner/AP
Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A man in Ashkelon runs after rockets were launched from Gaza on October 7.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
Palestinians inspect a destroyed building as emergency responders try to contain fires after Israeli jets bombed Gaza on October 7.
Outside of a hospital in Gaza, men sit next to the covered body of a Palestinian militant killed during Saturday's clashes.
Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A woman stands in a room damaged by rockets in Ashkelon on October 7.
A building in Tel Aviv is ablaze Saturday, October 7, following rocket attacks from Gaza.
Itai Ron/Reuters
Smoke rises as the clashes between Palestinian groups and Israeli forces continue on the streets of Beit Hanun in Gaza on October 7.
People take cover in a bomb shelter in Rishon Lezion, Israel, as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7.
Hadas Parush/Reuters
Fatima Shbair/AP
In pictures: The deadly clashes in Israel and Gaza
Lynn Hastings, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, highlighted the lack of shelters in the south due to the large influx of people. Additionally, the scarcity of water prevents access to food distribution sites due to ongoing bombardment. According to Dahman, this current war is more challenging and daunting than any previous conflicts, causing him profound fear for the safety of his family.
