“There is no flour or water in the camps in the central Gaza Strip. Even if flour is available, its price exceeds about 15 times its actual price. There is no money for the people, and the rain compounds everyone’s suffering.”
Soon following a short-lived humanitarian ceasefire, Israeli occupation forces invaded the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, cutting off Salah al-Din Street, and separating central and the southern Gaza Strip.
Refugees are Everywhere
Mohammed Al-Khatib, a young Gaza resident, described the suffering experienced by the residents of the area:
“For more than 70 days, we have been subjected to intense and brutal shelling in the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of displaced people sought refuge in camps in the central Gaza Strip. The displaced are everywhere, and there is no food or water. The danger of epidemics and diseases threatens everyone.”
Dying from Hunger
Musa Al-Dalasah, another young Gaza resident said,
“The occupation cut off the humanitarian aid route. Every house that was spared from the Israeli shelling in the central Gaza Strip now hosts dozens of displaced people. We suffer from a shortage of water and food, the absence of security, and increasing numbers of stray animals who have been separated from their families.
“Those who did not die from Israeli shelling eventually die from hunger and thirst. Diseases are spreading due to the thousands of decomposing bodies that are trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes. Civil defense teams are unable to recover the bodies due to the lack of fuel to operate the machines needed to move the concrete. Sewage covers the streets of the camps in the central Gaza Strip.”
‘UNRWA Abandoned Us’
Haj Ali Awad lamented,
“Hunger is everywhere. Those of us in the camps of the central governorate are experiencing a major war, just like the rest of the governorates. But we have now become besieged and isolated from the south of the Gaza Strip. No aid reaches us, there is no food or water, and hunger is spreading everywhere.
“There is no flour or water in the camps in the central Gaza Strip. Even if flour is available, its price exceeds about 15 times its actual price. There is no money for the people, and the rain compounds everyone’s suffering.
“UNRWA provides very little assistance to citizens in the central Gaza Strip. It has not met its legal obligations to us. UNRWA has left the residents of Gaza to face the danger of death from shelling, hunger, and thirst. This is not appropriate for an international relief organization whose mission is to aid people and provide assistance to them.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Abdallah Aljamal is a Gaza-based journalist. He is a correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle in the Gaza Strip.
