Fortunate Gazans have escaped the destructive bombing raids unleashed by Israel in its war against the Gaza Strip, but no matter how fortunate they may have been in escaping death, they cannot escape the suffocating economic siege or psychological warfare against Gaza.
These Gazans, numbering some 1.5 million, have fled their homes in the northern part of the Strip to the south, fleeing into the path of a famine that is now engulfing the Strip.
Their escape was prompted by a lack of humanitarian aid, shortages of food, fuel, drinking water, and medicine, and the disruption of electricity and communication networks. The situation has been further complicated by the looming threat of disease due to inadequate healthcare resources.
At the Khan Younis School in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, displaced women can be seen preparing meals for their families using firewood. Their lives have undergone a profound transformation after their homes were reduced to rubble, compelling them to seek refuge here.
Families are allocated to classrooms, where they improvise sleeping arrangements on the floor, often wrapping themselves in blankets, now a scarce commodity due to exorbitant prices.
Elham Fathi (Um Ahmed), a 47-year-old displaced woman, said that “I arrived at this school with my family of 13. I cook for them using firewood. We consider ourselves fortunate to have acquired enough firewood to light the stove, enabling us to cook lentils to meet our basic needs.”
Um Ahmed collects dry firewood, positioning it between two stones to light a fire. As she tends to the stove, her son Ahmed stands in line, awaiting his turn to fill a plastic gallon with potable water. In these challenging times, access to clean water has become the most precious resource for the family.
Some 45 days into the Israeli war on Gaza, Rami Adib, a 48-year-old who has been residing in the industrial shelter west of Khan Younis since 13 October, is on the verge of a breakdown.
“Life here is akin to hell. Crowding, exhaustion, and soaring prices are the norm. There’s a severe shortage of sanitary facilities, which are both unclean and lack adequate water. We also face challenges in obtaining drinking water, and there’s a lack of food and aid. Life has become unbearable,” he said.
Having left his apartment in the Tal Al-Hawa neighbourhood of southern Gaza without being able to take any belongings with him, Adib said that “the tents we live in offer little protection from the sun or the cold. They collapsed during a recent storm, exposing us to the rain and soaking mattresses and clothes.”
Mervat Al-Qayed, a 36-year-old displaced from the Al-Sabra neighbourhood to the Al-Madakha School in Rafah, said that “we left everything, venturing out in light clothes, barefoot, and without carrying any of our belongings. Now, as the weather turns cold and rainy, we lack warm clothing to shield us.”
“We are living in rudimentary tents that offer little protection against the cold and rain, especially with the drop in temperatures in the early winter season. We fear that conditions will further deteriorate in the coming days as temperatures drop and the rainfall increases. We find ourselves without mattresses, blankets, or adequate winter clothing.”
The hardships experienced by displaced Gazans, including children, women, and the elderly, are heart-wrenching. They are having to grapple with hunger and fear, striving to preserve their lives amid challenging circumstances, exacerbated by the brutal aggression of the Israeli army.
A spokesman for the Red Crescent in Gaza warned about the impending threat of famine and epidemics among the 1.5 million displaced people from the northern part of the Strip. Most of the displaced sleep in schools, on the streets, or in the open air.
He said there was “increasing difficulty in providing relief to the displaced population. Rescue crews are tirelessly working, but they face challenges exacerbated by communication outages and concerns about famine and the potential spread of disease.”
The humanitarian situation is worsening, with local markets being out of food supplies. There is also not enough fuel to meet urgent needs.
Mohamed Sorour, a 42-year-old engineer, took refuge in the UN Relief Agency UNRWA shelter in the Japanese Quarter west of Khan Younis with his two wives and five family members. He recounted the heartbreaking loss of family members to bombings in Beit Lahia.
Sorour told Al-Ahram Weekly about the hardships of living without potable water, electricity, or fuel. The dire circumstances have forced the family to resort to primitive wood stoves, sleeping on the ground, and grappling with the elements, instilling feelings of fear and anxiety. The situation is further compounded by the need to queue for the bathroom, with as many as 200 people in line.
“I prioritise the needs of my children, and we eat whatever the displaced people have, which often consists of insufficient and non-nutritious food. We struggle to find the loaves of bread we are accustomed to, as the bakeries have closed due to a shortage of flour, fuel, electricity, or the threat of being bombed by occupation aircraft,” he said.
The continuation of the current situation will lead to catastrophic consequences for children in the near future, as they are being deprived of the nutritious food essential for their well-being, he added.
Thousands of displaced residents are enduring a catastrophic humanitarian and health crisis under continuous bombardment. The health sector has collapsed, and there is a severe shortage of potable water, foodstuffs, and medicines.
Despite tens of thousands seeking refuge in UNRWA schools as shelters to escape the bombings, the Israeli forces persist in targeting them. The Al-Fakhoura School, affiliated with UNRWA in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, was bombed, resulting in the loss of 200 lives, including women and children.
Similar incidents occurred at the Al-Falah School in the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, the Al-Buraq School, Al-Shati School, Al-Mamouniya School, Khan Younis School, Tal Al-Zaatar School, and Al-Saftawi School. These schools house tens of thousands of displaced Gazans. When they are bombed, the death toll can easily reach hundreds.
UNRWA media adviser Adnan Abu Hasna told the Weekly that ”the UN flag is no longer sufficient to protect Palestinians seeking refuge in our schools. They are in search of the safeguarding promised by the UN flag and international humanitarian law.”
“Tens of thousands of families have sought refuge in schools, which have turned into refugee centres as the number of displaced people continues to rise. These families are surviving on meagre aid, limited water, food, and mattresses provided by UNRWA. Unfortunately, these makeshift living conditions lack sanitary facilities, bathrooms, or access to safe water and are surrounded by piles of garbage,” he said.
Abu Hasna said that the schools are ill-equipped and lack toilets and health facilities. There is insufficient medical and food aid to meet the needs of the thousands of displaced people relying on tents for shelter.
Head of the Gaza government Media Office Salama Maarouf has accused UNRWA of complying with Israel’s orders to displace the Palestinians and claimed it has abandoned displaced people in shelters without adequate services.
Maarouf said that UNRWA should focus on providing protection and support for the displaced, helping them to remain in their homes or in nearby areas instead of following Israel’s directives for displacement. He criticised UNRWA for abandoning its missions in Gaza City and urged it to resume its services in other areas of the Gaza Strip.
The UNRWA spokesman refuted these claims, asserting that the organisation is working to provide safe and suitable shelter for the displaced. It is also making efforts to supply food aid and relief brought into Gaza. According to Abu Hasna, there are no plans by UN institutions to support displacement.
Abu Hasna highlighted the poignant scenes of the displacement, evoking memories of the forced displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba, when they lived in tents that later became symbolic of the catastrophe after the establishment of Israel. He emphasised that the number of displaced individuals in various parts of the Gaza Strip has reached 1.7 million since 7 October, distributed among 156 agency facilities, predominantly schools.
UNRWA estimates that about 800 trucks of aid are needed a day for two or three months to meet the demand for assistance, he added.
“The Agency’s data indicate that there are 670,000 displaced people in 97 facilities in the central region, Khan Younis, and Deir Al-Balah, including the Khan Younis training centre, which is the largest UNRWA facility, housing 21,700 displaced people,” he said.
“The data show 160,000 displaced individuals in 57 facilities in the northern Gaza Strip, though communication with the north is problematic,” according to UNRWA.
“The lack of blankets and proper facilities compounds the difficulties, with each classroom accommodating between 70 and 80 displaced people. Over 500 individuals share the same bathroom in the schools, with waiting times extending to 90 minutes, if water is available at all,” Abu Hasna said.
According to UNRWA, there are substantial numbers of displaced children, 5,000 pregnant women, more than 2,000 individuals with disabilities, people with chronic diseases and cancer, as well as newborns.
The overcrowded conditions contribute to a significant increase in gastrointestinal diseases among children and acute respiratory illnesses due to the scarcity of clean water. To address these challenges, 124 medical teams are providing services in these centres, but their efforts are being hampered by the limited aid entering from the Rafah Crossing.
Israel has killed more than 13,000 people in Gaza, including over 5,500 children and 3,500 women, since 7 October. The number of injured has surpassed 30,000, with 75 per cent of them being children and women, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 23 November, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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