Israel is forcing us to leave Gaza City. We know they might never let us return

The Guardian’s reporter in Gaza describes the dilemma facing her family and others, many hungry, penniless and without transport

T

he ninth of September is my sister Enas’s birthday, so we were happy this morning, drinking coffee as a family and telling jokes, until we saw the leaflets dropping down telling us to evacuate. So now, instead of preparing biscuits and cakes to celebrate, we are packing for another displacement.

The Israeli army’s plan to occupy Gaza City sent me back to memories of the early days of the war: the tension, the terror and the psychological pressure. I am afraid the cycle of displacement will repeat itself again.

We have stayed in 10 places since we left our home in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, at the start of the war. A single phrase keeps echoing in my thoughts: “I don’t want to.”