Omar al-Midana, businessman and accountant, ordered to evacuate but his family can’t move

Omar al-Midana, a 30-year-old father of two girls, Basma and Ghazal, fled with his family from Gaza City's Shujaiyeh neighborhood to the western part of the city last spring. Now, the Israeli army has ordered them to evacuate south.

But for al-Midana, leaving is no longer possible. His 65-year-old mother was diagnosed with lung cancer just three months ago, and his five-year-old daughter Basma is suffering from malnutrition. So al-Midana plans to raise a white flag as he waits with his family to face whatever comes next.

Before the war, al-Midana had $50,000 in savings. That money is gone, spent on medicine, displacement, rent, food and canned goods. To survive, al-Midana says, he needs around 100 dollars daily. "My mother's treatment is 150–200 dollars every week. Food costs 150 dollars a week. Where do I get it from?"

Once a business manager and an accountant, his life-long achievements were leveled to the ground along with his family home in Shujaiyeh. "I studied, I graduated, I worked, I became a manager. I built a house. I wasn't with any political group, not involved in anything."

“The army tells us to evacuate – where to? Where do we go? What's happening to us is death."

More at Haaretz (liberal Israeli newspaper)