The latest news is that we have run out of rice. This is another problem on top of all the problems we already have. I just got back from baking class, which wasn’t a class at all. Imagine hundreds of people gathering together, shouting and screaming to get a loaf of bread before others, it is not enough for anyone. I am Muhammad, 40 years old, with a wife and four children. We changed refugee camps for five days. We are in UNRWA Kitak camp, which is a refugee camp in the south, very close to the sea. We came from Gaza City where there is nothing left now, and I don’t know if my house is still standing. We came up here with our families: there are 46 of us.
This time it’s different
The field is huge, There are 45,000 displaced people. Forty-five thousand Ghazawi (Residents of Gaza, Mr. Dr) who lost everything, even their dignity. I know that I was born in a complicated country, and I saw wars and bombings, but I could not imagine what was happening. I never thought I would feel like an animal. They turned us into animals Those who stink, those who do not wash, those who suffer from hunger and fight over a piece of bread. All of us have lost someoneBrother, friend, wife, son. There’s nothing you can do, this time it’s different. I have never seen them bomb a hospital. It looks like the army is playing a video game and we are imaginary characters running away, not humans. Bombs on mosques, schools and churches.
I think they feel free to do so because there is no one here to witness the horror of this massacre. There is no international and independent press. There are brave reporters from Gaza, but many of them were killed. I lost six of my journalist friends this month and in ten days of war. Do they want to hear that we condemn Hamas? We condemn Hamas. They ask us: Are they terrorists to us? Well, to us they are terrorists. But how will you justify killing our children and innocent civilians? Hamas cannot be an excuse for this injustice.
Never safe
They told us to come to the south so we wouldn’t have bombs on our heads, but we bring them here too. There is no safe place on the Strip. We know that once they are done with the north, they will do the same elsewhere with the usual excuse: Hamas. They’re about to do it, and they tell us they’re coming south.
But we want to stay in Gaza, where we were born. That is why we are running away today to save ourselves. A few months ago I was in Italy, I was offered to move to you, it would be great, but I’m from here and I love this God-forsaken sector.
In recent weeks, Gaza City has been hell, however The refugee camp is another kind of hell. We are walking zombies. We eat once a day, around five in the afternoon. Children cry because they are hungry. We give the little ones something to eat even early in the morning, when they wake up. Older children understand the situation and try not to complain, but children as young as one, two, three or four years old protest. We adults eat as little as possible to leave what little remains for our children. We sleep outside so we can give them a roof and a tent to stay in. The last few days, at night It’s cold in Gaza and we get sick easily. We have gastroenteritis, bronchitis, and spots on the skin. We can’t wash ourselves, and the queue to go to the bathroom lasts at least an hour. Even to get a bottle of water you have to stand in line. We spend our days queuing to survive.
Bitter remark
the Internet is slow. When there, we watch videos showing the Israeli army in action and write to our friends on WhatsApp to find out if they are alive. A few days ago, a friend who lives far away asked me if we felt abandoned by the international community. I told him no. We are accustomed to not existing. When the war broke out in Kiev, the whole world was worried about the Ukrainians. We were too. No one cares at all about the people of Gaza, but we know it.
(Text compiled by Greta Privitera)
“Freelance social media evangelist. Organizer. Certified student. Music maven.”
