In Refugee Week it’s more vital than ever that the situation of the population under siege in Gaza is exposed, and that the voices of ordinary Palestinians are heard. These are just two of them.
While large-scale demonstrations break out across the world in support of the Palestinians in Gaza who are under constant bombardment and being deprived of food and medical supplies, there is little in the UK mainstream media and elsewhere about the desperate situation of civilians in Gaza.
Israel has banned all foreign journalists from entering Gaza to record the situation on the ground, so the world is reliant on reports from the few brave Palestinian journalists who are still trying to operate in a war zone and are frequently targeted by the IDF. The only way that the population can communicate with the outside world is via the internet, which was also cut off for some days in the last week.
Recently Palestinians are also finding that their social media accounts are being closed down or their posts deleted as “spam”, so one of the very few outlets still available to them is under attack.
Sussex Bylines has managed to communicate with two people living in Gaza, and these are their accounts of what life is like for them and their families. Please consider donating to their Go Fund Me accounts to help pay for medical needs when they are able to get family members out to an external hospital.
Ahmed’s story
I am Ahmed Al-Madhoun from the besieged northern Gaza Strip.
We are exposed to death and genocide every day in all forms due to the barbaric bombing, systematic starvation, and diseases that take a long time to recover from due to the lack of nutrition.
I am with my family – my mother Hanan, my father Nabil and my two nephews Nabil and Mohammed. The occupation ordered us to move to the south of Gaza, where there is no shelter, no water, and no food. We have lived in a tent for a year and a half, made of tightly packed fabrics that do not protect us from the rain or the cold.
My mother Hanan lost her sight because her treatment was stopped for more than two years. She was receiving her treatment with a monthly injection of Avistin to preserve her sight due to a defect in the retina and diabetes. I am now trying hard to bear and provide the costs of food and water, support my family, and rebuild and restore our lives again.
I am desperate for the crossings to open so that I can travel with my mother to get her help and the retinal treatment that she needs in a hospital abroad. Before the war I was studying at university and my hope is to complete my education and build a better future for myself and my family.
Majd’s story
We were living happily in our home in Gaza. I had a company, a beautiful house, a loving family and big dreams. But twenty months ago everything turned upside down. We became different people – exhausted and homeless. We lost everything. My daughter Mona was injured in an airstrike.
We are now a homeless family of nine – me, my wife and three daughters – Mona, who is 8 years old, Lareen, 6, and Zeina, 4 – my parents and my two brothers. Food and medical supplies have been almost completely cut off for three months. Flour is unavailable much of the time and it costs $30 a kilo and is not enough to feed all of us for a day.
Of course we crave fruits, meat, vegetables and sweets, but they’ve become a distant memory. Sometimes my daughters dream that they are eating a piece of chocolate and then wake up to the hot nylon in the tent, only to realise that there’s no clean water or even bread. Only pain.
Medical care is non-existent in Gaza – it only exists for those on the verge of death and even that care when under bombardment is beyond their capacity. My daughter Mona has had two failed operations on her injured shoulder and needs further surgery and expert treatment so that she’s not permanently disabled.
No-one from any other country has offered us any care and patients have not been able to leave for a year because of the closure of the crossing. Delegations enter very rarely to perform operations and I tried with all my might to obtain one for my daughter but because there are situations between life and death I wasn’t successful.
I am sharing our truth from the tents. Still alive, still asking the world to see us and to understand the extent of the worries and oppression we are experiencing.
Ahmed’s GoFundMe account: https://gofund.me/69f962fc
Majd’s GoFundMe account – he needs to raise money to pay for food for his family and for an operation for his daughter Mona when he is able to take her out of Gaza : https://gofund.me/be672f7c
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