GAZA CITY, Palestine
Displaced from her hometown in Beit Lahia to a makeshift tent in the heart of Gaza, Palestinian girl Camelia Abu Khader finds herself amidst the grim realities of war -- hungry, unsafe, and surrounded by the shroud of death.
In the city of Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, 8-year-old Abu Khader resides with her family of eleven in a cramped, rundown tent devoid of basic necessities.
Their living conditions are compounded by the harsh realities of the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 last year.
Pain of displacement
Abu Khader sought refuge with her family from the onslaught of the Israeli war machine that ravaged her town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, she told Anadolu.
However, Abu Khader’s family faced relentless attacks by Israeli aircraft, artillery, and gunboats wherever they fled.
As the conflict escalated, the family joined tens of thousands of people fleeing to Jabalia city in the north, only to find it unsafe.
Their next attempt for refuge led them to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which they hoped would offer sanctuary. But the hospital became a target of ground military operations, forcing the family to make the perilous journey southward in search of safety.
Death on the way
The Abu Khader family embarked then on a perilous journey for several hours before encountering Israeli soldiers at checkpoints.
The family witnessed the grim sight of piled bodies on the ground.
Upon reaching the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, they faced the challenge of finding shelter for themselves and three other families.
Abu Khader told Anadolu that fortunately, with the generosity of a journalist who donated funds, they managed to procure nylon and cloth to construct a makeshift tent, offering temporary refuge and protection for their families and others.
Death shroud
Inside the tent, the family endured the biting cold brought on by low temperatures.
They resorted to using cloth from the shrouds of the deceased, sourced from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, as makeshift blankets to fend off the chill.
"We've been displaced multiple times, leaving behind all our belongings, until we settled in Deir al-Balah, where we reside in a cramped tent devoid of basic necessities for human life,” said Camelia.
“There is no food, no water,” said the 8-year-old.
“We crave fruits and vegetables, but everything is expensive, and we cannot buy it,” she added.
Camelia pointed out that they had to use shrouds as a cover to protect their bodies from the cold inside the tent.
She said her school in the Beit Lahia area was bombed and expressed her hope to return to school and carry her bag one day.
In its ongoing deadly war on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army demolished 103 schools and universities entirely, while 311 educational institutions sustained partial damage, according to the Gaza government's media office.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 Hamas incursion, which killed less than 1,200 people.
Tel Aviv, in comparison, has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians and wounded over 77,900 amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities in the Palestinian territory.
Nearly seven months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement besides a crippling blockade on food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to prevent genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi
