But, again, the response stressed the difficulty of reaching the area, and the lack of cooperation of the Israeli Military forces [to ensure the safety of those fleeing]. I was informed by an employee in the Red Cross that I had to leave the house at my own risk, as soon as possible, to save my family, after we ran out of food and water. I tried contacting my neighbors, but all the phone lines were down. I had to make the difficult decision to go out to the street. I put a white cloth out of the window and started waving it for the Israeli Military to see it. Five minutes after waving the piece of white cloth, I made sure the Israeli military forces had seen it. I left the house barefoot, not holding anything and asked my children and neighbors to leave their houses to the streets. We left the houses with nothing, not even official identification papers. I was in front of the group holding the white cloth, walking very slowly, considering the fact that there were children and elderly with us as well. We were a group of fifty people. We took the main road to stay visible for the Israeli airplanes. In the middle of the road we found a tank and a bulldozer near where we were. We kept on walking with the white flag held high. We saw four bodies on the street while we were walking, and we could not help them, given the danger and the security threat we were facing. We arrived at Beit Hanoun Hospital, and we stayed there for two days. After the bombings became more intense, we decided to leave to the UNRWA shelter center in Tel Al-Hawa area, in the middle of Gaza City. The conditions in the shelter were inhumane. It was a shelter for who has no dignity. We stayed there for a week, and then I left with my wife and some of my children to a rented house. Two of my children stayed in the shelter center. I tried to reach my house during the ceasefires, but I did not dare to enter it, fearing for my life. We returned to the house after the final announcement of the end of the war and found great parts of the house destroyed.” Shehdah Abd al-Jawad Mohammad Abuzraik, Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip Interview: 3 November 2014 After years of restrictions on the area, Israel also imposed a closure on the Gaza Strip.148 This closure reflects a punishment for the entire population of the Gaza Strip because of their political choices, and has significantly undermined the living conditions in the enclave, as well as denying its Palestinian residents access to the rest of the oPt, Israel, and the outside world. This closure does not allow for the realization of a wide spectrum of human rights and it contravenes Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention as well as Rule 103 of Customary IHL which prohibit collective punishment, which has been reaffirmed by the Secretary General of the United Nations.149 By not allowing the free flow of residents of the Gaza Strip through the 148 OCHA oPt, Gaza Blockade. Available at: http://www.ochaopt.org/theme/gaza-blockade 149 OCHA oPt, The Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of the Blockade, July 2015. Available at: https:// www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_july_2015_english.pdf 40