-Palestinians using horse-, donkey-drawn karra carts as alternative to passenger, goods transportation amid fuel shortage
- Karra carts used to transport wounded, dead to hospitals from sites targeted by Israeli airstrikes, crucial given rising casualties amid reported ‘massacres’
- Cost of passenger transport has seen significant increase during war, posing burden on residents compelled to use karra carts due to scarcity of fuel GAZA CITY
Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are forced to resort to using animal-drawn carts, locally referred to as karra, to counter the fuel shortage crisis and serve as an alternative to traditional vehicles for transporting passengers and goods.
Saed Abu Awad from Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, rises at dawn every day to tend to his horse and prepare for the daily task of ferrying passengers and goods.
Since the commencement of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, Abu Awad has seized the opportunity to provide for his family of six.
Palestinians are resorting to the primitive transportation without hesitation, finding relief from some of the hardships brought about by the ongoing conflict.
The carts are also employed in transporting the wounded and dead to hospitals from sites targeted by Israeli air raids.
It is crucial as casualty numbers rise amid what the Ministry of Health describes as Israeli-perpetrated “massacres” against civilians in the region. Additionally, there is a shortage of ambulances due to targeted attacks by Israel, as reported by the ministry.
The only means of transportation
Abu Awad said Gaza residents have come to rely on the carts as a means of transportation to meet their daily needs during the aggression.
He told Anadolu that Palestinians have turned to using the primitive vehicles despite the time it takes to reach a destination, given their daily need to move around.
A process that is hindered by the depletion of fuel for conventional vehicles.
He points out that the intense workload "has exhausted his horse, as it is not accustomed to working long hours."
"When I feel that the horse is tired, I stop working so as not to harm it. I cannot do without it; it is like my hand and foot at the moment," he said.
Abu Awad highlights a consensus among owners of the karra carts to standardize "transportation costs, which vary depending on the distance, the number of passengers, and the volume of materials to be transported," he said.
Transportation costs rise
Despite being primitive, the cost of passenger transport has seen a significant increase during the war, posing a burden on residents who have to use it due to the lack of alternatives.
Abu Awad attributes the increase to the three to “fourfold rise in prices of animal feed, such as barley and straw, due to the aggression.”
“The price per pound of barley and straw has multiplied by about 3 - 4 times because of the aggression, reaching 25 shekels ($6.88) from the previous 5 shekels. This is in addition to the fatigue experienced by the animals while moving between neighborhoods and cities,” he said.
Adam al-Razi, 42, who was displaced from Gaza City to the central governorate, complained about the high cost of transportation via the carts. He is forced to pay 5 shekels to travel from the Nuseirat refugee camp to Deir al-Balah -- nearly twice what he used to pay for a taxi.
But he cannot do without karra because it has become the primary means of transportation in the region, he told the Turkish news agency.
“We use animals as a means of transport to meet our daily needs. Everything is scarce in the Gaza Strip, with the Israeli occupation continuing its suffocating blockade on us,” said al-Razi.
He noted that the depletion of fuel at refueling stations has caused a paralysis in transportation, forcing thousands of taxis to stop operations, that have been replaced by carts.
Al-Razi emphasized the importance of the carts by highlighting their role in “evacuating the wounded and martyrs from targeted areas in the sector, especially in Gaza City and the north.”
Possible halt for karra carts
Mohammed Ahmed, the owner of a karra cart residing in the Zawaida area in the western central governorate, said barley and straw, essential for the operation of the carts, are “on the verge of running out of markets” in the Gaza Strip.
“Barley and straw are imported goods, and after about 80 days of the Israeli war and the closure of crossings, they are on the verge of running out of markets. This situation may lead to a potential halt in the operation of the karra carts,” he told Anadolu.
He pointed out that the increase in transportation costs of the carts is attributed to rising prices of barley and straw and noted that a horse or donkey requires two pounds of the food to provide the daily energy needed for long hours of work.
Daily ordeal
Sabah Abdul Kareem is forced to travel long distances every day by karra carts to visit her son, who was injured in an Israeli attack and is currently at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
“I constantly use karra carts to meet the needs of my family, visit my injured son daily, and provide him with the necessities and some medications he needs,” she told Anadolu.
“This is how we live in Gaza. There is no more suffering left for us. What does the world expect from us?” she said angrily.
She appealed to Arab and European countries to “look with mercy at the Palestinians amid their escalating suffering due to the ongoing aggression and the lack of water, electricity, fuel, gas, and food scarcity.”
Days after the outbreak of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant imposed a “comprehensive siege” on Gaza, and said: "No electricity, no food, no water, and no fuel (will reach the Strip)," according to Israeli Channel 13.
A temporary cease-fire between Palestinian resistance factions and Israel, brokered by Qatar and Egypt, concluded in early December after seven days when there was an exchange of prisoners and limited humanitarian aid, including scarce fuel supplies, for the approximately 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
From Oct. 7 to Dec. 27, the Israeli war on the enclave has resulted in 21,110 deaths and 55,243 injuries, mostly children and women. The Israeli army's fatalities have been recorded in the deaths of 501 officers and soldiers, with 173 since the start of a ground operation on Oct. 27.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala
