2023-11-10 14:08:34
In Gaza… Palestinians recount their daily battle to stand firm amidst bombing fire
Amal Al-Rabaya’s daily life is an actual battle. After spending the night with thousands of other displaced people in a United Nations school after her house was demolished by an Israeli bombing, she gets up early in the morning to search for water and food for her family.
At eight o’clock in the morning, Amal Al-Rabayah, 45 years old, leaves the school affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), where she took refuge with her husband, six children, daughter-in-law, and two children, heading to the ruins of the demolished family home in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to To the French Press Agency.
She explains that her first task is to “manage the flour to make bread… As soon as I open my eyes, I think: What and how will I feed my children?”
Amal Al-Rabaiah makes bread amid the rubble of the family home that was destroyed in an Israeli raid in Rafah (AFP)
As soon as he wakes up, her 24-year-old son Suleiman rushes to the bakery to get a number in the queue that is forming, before heading off to take his turn in front of a water distribution point.
He told Agence France-Presse: “I hardly sleep at night, as soon as the morning comes… I go to get a floor number from the bakery and then come back when they start selling, then I go to stand in line to fill a gallon or two of water.”
Bread, water, and a bath every few days
He explains: “If I’m lucky, it takes two hours, but often it takes four or five hours.”
But a long wait does not necessarily lead to results.
His mother confirms: “We take turns standing in line. Two days ago, I stood in front of the bakery from two in the afternoon until six-thirty in the evening before my turn arrived. But they told me that they had run out of bread. I begged them to give me a few loaves of bread for the children, but they refused.”
It is reported that the building complex, where she lived, was destroyed by an Israeli bombing on October 7, the day of the attack launched by the Hamas movement inside Israeli territory, which resulted in the death of more than 1,400 people, the majority of whom were civilians, according to the Israeli authorities.
The violent Israeli bombing campaign that followed the attack killed more than 10,500 people, most of them civilians, in the Gaza Strip, caused massive destruction, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Amal narrates sadly: “Even the horse that my son used to pull the cart and work in agriculture was killed. The money and capital were gone and we were left with nothing.”
Amal Al-Rabaya washes clothes amid the rubble of the family home that was destroyed in an Israeli raid (AFP)
Later, her predecessor, Nisreen (39 years old), joins her, carrying a small bag of flour that she succeeded in obtaining.
The two women rush to add some water and yeast to the flour and knead it. Then one of them goes to search among the rubble for small pieces of firewood to light the fire and bake the dough.
Although the rising smoke disturbs 9-year-old Bilal and causes him to cough, the child is keen to help and shouts with a smile: “Look, here I am helping you so that you don’t say that I don’t do it,” as he tries to pick up the laundry that was washed with the least amount of water possible.
Water is a rare currency in the Gaza Strip and should be consumed sparingly. To be able to shower from time to time.
Nisreen, Amal Al-Rabaya’s predecessor, mixes flour with water to prepare bread in front of her grandchildren in Rafah (AFP)
Amal says, pointing to the bathroom of her destroyed house, the walls of which are still standing, “We shower here. At least the walls of the bathroom remain to cover us, even though it is destroyed from the inside, and despite the fear that it will collapse on us.”
She explains: “We are waiting for water to become available so I can bathe my children and myself as well.” “Every 4 or 5 days, water is available once and sometimes it is not.”
Her husband, Imad, sits on the rubble and takes the flute, surrounded by many children, and begins playing Palestinian songs that the audience repeats with him.
“Escape from everything”
Imad says: “Go back under the rubble here, but I was very happy to find the flute. I play it every day trying to release negative energy and entertain the children,” adding: “We sit together trying to escape from everything.”
Imad recalled the family’s life before the war, saying: “Every Friday, we would prepare a lunch of chicken, saj bread, and rice. We had not eaten like that since the beginning of the war.”
By afternoon, the family had succeeded in obtaining 27 liters of water, half a kilogram of pasta and a small container of sauce, for about 50 people.
Imad confirms: “The children are hungry, we will start with them,” while the children line up carrying plates to get some food, which they devour standing while leaning on walls that are still standing among the rubble.
After the small meal, parents are satisfied with one cup of tea, as the consumption of a small box of tea should be limited to ensure it lasts as long as possible.
Amal Al-Rabaya, her husband, Imad, and her father, Salman, drink tea amid the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli bombing in Rafah (AFP)
Amid the continuous roar of marches, the family takes the road back to the UNRWA school before sunset, where many people displaced by the war spend the night.
Amal says: “I feel anxious all the time. The weather has become cold at night, and I don’t know how we will manage winter clothes for the children.”
Her predecessor confirms: “Children do not sleep, and if some of them sleep, they wake up in the middle of the night screaming. “I am impatiently waiting for the morning until we come here next to the house.”
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