Palestinians dream of escape from Gaza fighting

GAZA (Reuters) - "I want to leave. What about you?"

That's how ordinary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip tend to open conversations nowadays, as factional warfare drives their crowded territory ever deeper into chaos.

Thousands of Palestinians have moved out of Gaza since Israel withdrew in 2005, braving uncertain fortunes abroad rather than fall foul of street battles between dominant Hamas Islamists and their Fatah rivals.

"I do not want to die like this," said Abu Fawzi, a father of five who was forced to shut down his clothing store over the past week as fighting raged. "It is no longer a safe place. It is a matter of days before I take my family and flee Gaza."

Emigration from Gaza, whose population is 1.5 million, is still at a trickle. The border with Israel is all but sealed and access to neighboring Egypt is limited, making getting away no easy matter.

But the fact it is discussed so openly is new.

Under decades of Israeli occupation, Palestinians were unwilling to seem to be retreating before the Jewish state. There have also been fatwas, or religious edicts, against leaving by Muslim clerics keen to keep their people's nationalist spirit intact.

Self-preservation often trumps patriotism, however.

PRESSURE

"We are committed to the land but the pressures are greater. Everybody wants to leave. How can people stay in Gaza when there is no security?" said Ahmed Ghani as he waited with his family at the Rafah border crossing for permission to enter Egypt.

"The situation has reached an unprecedented point. Migration from the Strip to the outside has begun," the 44-year-old merchant said.

European Union monitors at Rafah said that, over the past year, some 12,000 more people left Gaza than returned to Gaza.

Few Palestinians expect relief from the internecine conflict soon, and there are fears of a new Israeli offensive in response to cross-border rocket fire by Gaza militants. Israel has so far limited itself to air strikes and the occasional incursion.

"The internal fighting and the Jewish raids have caused disappointment and had a terrible psychological impact on the people," said Subhi Al-Ghaleeni, another Palestinian en route to Egypt. He said he planned to return when things calmed down.

Despite the presence of a Palestinian Diaspora throughout the Middle East and beyond, there is no guarantee of prosperity for those now leaving Gaza.

The recent emigres tend to be skilled and educated -- merchants or journalists, for example -- and those with relatives already established abroad. At least 60 businesses have relocated their factories to Jordan and Egypt.

Those left behind tend to be poorer and more likely to turn to radicalism and violence.

"I have land, a home and children -- where should I go?" said Abu Ahmed Khair.

"I will die here, but I will never run away. Hamas and Fatah must not help the Israelis by killing one another and forcing people out."

(Additional reporting by Adam Entous in Jerusalem)