Palestinian displaced persons transport supplies and humanitarian aid received in the center of Gaza, on May 29, 2025. (Credit: Eyad Baba/AFP)
Last night, just before 11 p.m., my husband, Mohammad, suddenly said, “The Israeli army just released a new evacuation map.” I felt my heart break.The internet was painfully slow. It took nearly a full minute for the map to load. When it finally appeared, I saw that the new red zones covered a much wider area of Gaza City, including parts of al-Daraj, the neighborhood where we live. Almost as soon as the map was released, the bombardment intensified. The explosions came closer, and incendiary bombs lit up the night sky until it looked like daytime.Our building wasn’t technically inside the designated red zone, but we were just meters away from its periphery. Even though we weren’t in the red zone, it didn’t matter much. Bombs don’t care about maps. One stray missile, one shell off target — and that’s it. Previous letter from Gaza...
Last night, just before 11 p.m., my husband, Mohammad, suddenly said, “The Israeli army just released a new evacuation map.” I felt my heart break.The internet was painfully slow. It took nearly a full minute for the map to load. When it finally appeared, I saw that the new red zones covered a much wider area of Gaza City, including parts of al-Daraj, the neighborhood where we live. Almost as soon as the map was released, the bombardment intensified. The explosions came closer, and incendiary bombs lit up the night sky until it looked like daytime.Our building wasn’t technically inside the designated red zone, but we were just meters away from its periphery. Even though we weren’t in the red zone, it didn’t matter much. Bombs don’t care about maps. One stray missile, one shell off target — and that’s it. Previous letter...
