No water, no food, no electricity: this is how the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are fighting for survival

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“There is no food and we haven’t showered in days,” says Ahmed Hamid. The 43-year-old fled Gaza City with his wife and seven children to escape Israeli attacks. But the family also has to fight for survival in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. “The only food we could find is canned tuna and cheese,” complains the father of the family.

About a million Palestinians have been displaced, the UN estimates, since Israel began heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7. The radical Islamic Palestinian organization has killed more than 1,400 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians. Of the 2,750 Palestinians killed, most were not Hamas fighters.

More than 9,000 Palestinians were also injured. As the aid organization Medical Aid for Palestinians reports, hospitals are overwhelmed. They are facing a “catastrophic” shortage of medical supplies, a spokesperson told Al Jazeera. He further explains: “There is a shortage of blood. There is a shortage of medicines.” There is also a lack of medical staff – also because some doctors were killed in air raids. “The rest are exhausted and unable to care for the thousands of injured people they see every day,” the spokesperson emphasized.

“None of us bathe anymore”

In addition, Israel has cut off water, electricity and food supplies to the coastal strip. “The worst and most dangerous thing is that there is no water,” said Sabah Masbah, who took shelter with 21 relatives at a friend’s house in Rafah. “None of us bathe anymore because water is so scarce,” says the 50-year-old.

“Water is a problem,” says 23-year-old Assem, who has hosted refugees from Gaza City in his home in Khan Yunis, almost six miles north of Rafah. «Every day we think about how we can save water. When we shower, we have no water to drink.”

Thousands of people from the north of the Gaza Strip have fled to Rafah and Khan Yunis. Many who are not staying with friends or family sleep in the gardens of hospitals and in the schools of the UN aid agency UNRWA.

More than a million people are expected to reach safety

Mona Abdel Hamid from Gaza actually wanted to stay with family in Rafah, but now strangers have taken her in. ‘I feel humiliated and ashamed. We don’t have many clothes, most of them are dirty and there is no water to wash,” says the 55-year-old. “No electricity, no water, no internet. I feel like I am losing my humanity.”

Apparently in preparation for a ground offensive against Hamas, the Israeli army has called on some 1.1 million civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to immediately seek safety in the south. However, targets in Rafah and Khan Yunis were also bombed on Sunday. It was also reported on Monday that bombs had fallen near Rafah.

“Where is humanity?”

“Look at this enormous destruction,” Alaa al-Hams shouted, pointing to the rubble of a house in Rafah. ‘They claim there are terrorists here. But these were all citizens who did not belong to any group. Now they are all dead,” says al-Hams indignantly. “Where is the humanity they are talking about?”

Samira Kassab stands in the middle of the ruins of her house in Rafah. ‘Our house was bombed, we had nothing left. My daughter has cancer, but I can’t take her to the hospital. And I myself suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes,” she says.

But then the grandmother, surrounded by her grandchildren, shows the victory sign and shouts belligerently: “I will not leave, no matter what happens, even if I have to die. We will not give up a piece of our country!”

Without electricity there is no water

Israel is said to have turned on the water supply again on Sunday. According to media reports, water is still not flowing in many parts of Gaza. As Al Jazeera reports, this could be due to a lack of fuel. The water pumps in the Gaza Strip require electricity to function. Trucks are also needed to transport water. These also need fuel.

However, Israel stopped exporting fuel just over a week ago. The Gaza region’s only power plant has since been out of service. As UNRWA confirms, hospitals’ generators run out of fuel within a maximum of 24 hours.

The online portal Aurora Intel eventually reported that around 150,000 liters of fuel crossed the Rafah border on Monday. It is intended for use in sewage and water pumping stations. (AFP/Mrs)

Source: Blick