Palestinians cling to life in Rafah, the possible new target of the Israeli offensive

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RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — In the narrow gaps between the tents that crowd almost every inch of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Palestinians cling to life amid the bloody war with Israel.

A barefoot boy carries a saucepan on his head and smiles. Another carries a drum half his size full of water. Several men sit at half-empty tables selling canned goods. A tapestry of clothes hangs from each clothesline.

The world‘s eyes are on Rafah, once a quiet city along the border with Egypt and which could now be Israel’s next target in its fight against Hamas.

Rafah has grown in size in recent weeks. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have spread out across the city in tents or in the homes of friends or family. It is estimated that the 1.5 million people taking refuge there — more than half of Gaza’s population — have nowhere to flee in the face of an offensive that has devastated large areas of the urban landscape in the rest of the territory.

United Nations officials warn that an attack on Rafah would be catastrophic, with more than 600,000 children on the ground. An offensive on the city and its surroundings could also cause the collapse of the humanitarian aid system trying to keep Gazans alive. Israel’s Western allies have also expressed concern.

Israel maintains it must take Rafah to ensure the destruction of Hamas and the release of hostages held by the insurgents.

Food, as throughout the Strip, is scarce. A crowd gathers around a bakery hoping to get a few pitas to feed their families. Others bake theirs in clay kitchens with the flour they have been able to obtain. A child, sitting on the shoulders of an older one, delights in the first bite of the spongy bread.

The tent-free streets are packed with Palestinians struggling to support their families.

The mundane course of life continues in some places. A boy cuts his hair. A girl puts on a pink floral dress that is too big for her. A woman and a child avoid a huge puddle near a group of tents.

And in a surreal moment of joy, children spin around on a makeshift, hand-operated Ferris wheel, spinning and spinning as the war — now in its fifth month — rages on.