2023-11-12 15:27:12
The displaced people of Gaza face hunger and cold… and sleep on the dirt
Youssef Muhanna thought that the war would end quickly, but following he was injured and his house was destroyed and he was forced to live for 25 days with nothing, he finally decided to go with his family to the southern Gaza Strip like tens of thousands of Palestinians in light of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to what It was reported by “Agence France-Presse” in a report.
Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing the intense Israeli bombardment of the northern Gaza Strip via the road leading to its south. There, trucks, cars, and donkey-drawn carts continue to pass, with displaced people crowding in, while others make their journey from north to south on foot.
Muhanna told the agency: “My wife is sick, and my daughter and I were injured when a neighboring house was bombed and our house was destroyed. We have been besieged for 25 days without eating, drinking, or anything.”
He added, “It was a red death. We were under bombardment every second.” The shells do not stop, and belts of fire surround us. We were afraid that the remains of the house would fall on us due to the intensity of the bombing and shaking, so we decided to come to the south.”
Muhanna left his home in Jabalia camp with his wife and six children. He hoped to reach the border city of Rafah with Egypt, but his arduous journey stopped at the entrance to the city of Khan Yunis following he spent 8 hours covering 25 kilometers.
“There is no loaf of bread.”
He said: “My trip from Jabalia cost me 500 shekels (120 euros), and I no longer have money to reach Rafah.”
He explained that he had to pay money to ride “donkey carts, a car, and a truck,” each time for a very short distance; Because most drivers do not cover long distances; Due to fuel shortage. He pointed out that his wife uses a wheelchair, as she “cannot walk.”
Palestinian children during their exodus to the southern Gaza Strip (AFP)
He added: “We walked and I was pushing her, and she has been suffering from low blood pressure and lupus for 14 years, which causes osteoporosis. She was forced to move to the south due to the lack of medicine. Which will make her die in pain.”
His wife sat on a sidewalk near the Bani Suhaila roundregarding on Salah al-Din Street, east of the city of Khan Yunis, with her children around her, showing signs of fatigue, and all of them had nothing but blankets.
Hundreds of families are sitting on both sides of the road and their members appear tired, some are dripping with sweat, and children are sleeping on the ground, while others are leaning on their mothers.
The Israeli army confirms that this area is relatively safer, but bombing targeted it once more this morning (Sunday), as an aircraft launched 4 raids that affected regarding 10 homes in Bani Suhaila. The director of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Muhammad Zaqout, confirmed to the agency that “10 martyrs had fallen, including women and children.”
About half of the homes in the Strip were destroyed or damaged, and it currently includes more than 1.5 million displaced people, according to the United Nations, following the Israeli army warned residents of the northern Strip to head to its south.
In 3 days, regarding 200,000 people fled from north to south. This influx led to an increase in rental prices in the southern regions from regarding $150 per month to range between $500 and $1,000 currently.
“May it rain”
Umm Yaqoub Abu Jarad (42 years old) said while screaming: “My children have fallen ill. I cannot find even a loaf of bread for them… Where can I get food for them? I have been working since six in the morning to find a loaf of bread for them.”
Umm Yaqoub was displaced from the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, to a government school in the city of Khan Yunis with her seven children and her husband 3 days ago.
Displaced Palestinians upon their arrival in the southern Gaza Strip (AFP)
The United Nations explained that obtaining bread has become difficult in the south. Because “the only flour mill in the Gaza Strip is no longer working due to a lack of electricity and fuel.”
The price of a bag of flour (50 kilograms) increased from 40 to at least 150 shekels.
On October 7, the Hamas movement launched an unprecedented attack on Israel in which regarding 1,200 people were killed, most of whom officials say were civilians. Hamas fighters also took regarding 240 people hostage and transported them to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities’ figures.
Since then, Israel has launched intense bombardment on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 11,000 people, most of them civilians, including more than 4,500 children, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Before the outbreak of this war, more than 80 percent of Gaza’s population suffered from poverty, and approximately two-thirds of them depended on international aid, according to the United Nations.
Hunger is not the only source of concern for Umm Yacoub, as she said: “My husband suffers from heart problems, and my daughter needs a medical mattress.” We all sleep on the ground and in the dirt without a cover, and it is cold.”
“One rice meal for seven people”
Her husband Atef (47 years old) and her children sat on the threshold of a classroom on the first floor of a school crowded with displaced people.
He said: “I came here with my children from Shujaiya on foot. The situation is catastrophic. I am a responsible father for a family and I do not have a single shekel to buy food for my children.”
But stores also lack basic supplies such as mineral water, baby formula, diapers, and pasta.
He added: “They bring us one meal of rice for every seven people. I pretend to eat with my family, so I eat a spoonful of rice and tell them that I am full and my soul is full, so they can eat.”
He continued: “There is no water. There is a big queue (in front of a tap), and everyone is jostling. My health condition does not allow me to jostle. A day here is equivalent to a year, and we are unable to move due to the extreme fatigue caused by walking.”
His daughter Reem (20 years old) said that she has suffered from a broken spine and shoulder since birth, and said: “I sleep on the ground in the cold following I left behind a medical mattress and pillow.”
She added: “I cannot walk long distances. I might not feel my legs when we arrived, and I was unable to sleep due to the severity of the pain, and we do not have money to buy painkillers.” She pointed out that her younger brothers suffer from anemia. She concluded: “We endure hunger so that the available food is sufficient for them, and we have all lost a lot of weight.”
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