Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, has become a ghost town as most of its residents have fled weeks of intense fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups led by Hamas. The city, once a bustling hub, now lies deserted, with only a handful of people remaining behind.

Those who have stayed feel trapped, with no access to basic necessities such as water and food. Haitham Abu Taha, one of the few Palestinians who returned to Rafah with his family after Israel’s army announced a daily pause on a southern route, described the situation as dire. “There is no more water or food. We are totally trapped,” he said.

The Israeli military has described Rafah as the last Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip. In early May, troops entered the city, bombarding areas near the border with Egypt and forcing tens of thousands of residents to leave. Despite the army’s announcement of a withdrawal, many residents who returned found that soldiers “had not really withdrawn.

“The desolate city is now a sea of rubble, with Palestinians reporting the presence of Israeli drones flying precise maneuvers at low altitudes. These drones, often silent, offer a detailed view of the terrain and have been used to carry out precision strikes since the Israel-Hamas war began more than eight months ago.

Abu Taha and others spoke of the “danger of quadcopter drones which mercilessly target anyone walking” in the streets. Ismail Abu Shaar, a 22-year-old who claimed to have stayed at home to “protect” the area, said, “Many people were killed” by the quadcopters.

The distress of the 2.4 million people in the narrow strip of land that is Gaza, already impoverished before the war, has increased with the fighting. International organisations have faced extreme difficulties in providing humanitarian aid to civilians, while the Israeli authorities say they have allowed the aid in but it has not been collected for distribution.

As the war continues to tighten its grip on Rafah, many residents have left homes where they had lived for years or apartments they had rented at high prices. Hundreds of Palestinians fled Tal Al-Sultan, a district of Rafah, after strikes last week killed dozens, according to the local authorities in the Hamas-run territory.