The Electronic Intifada 6 November 2023
In Gaza, it is a struggle to find necessities like water and food, and keeping up with daily hygiene is near impossible. (Naaman Omar / APA images)
We do not sleep at night.
Thirty days of sleep deprivation can make some go mad.
Israel is dropping bombs all over Gaza, obliterating entire blocks of houses and claiming hundreds of lives in a single strike. We are living a nightmare with our eyes wide open.
I live with nine families in a 120-square-meter apartment, a mass grave for the living. We drink dirty water and sleep on the freezing floor, uncovered.
We are lucky, though, to have walls that shelter us. I wonder about the people living on the streets, how they sleep.
We eat one meal a day. Finding bread and drinkable water is a struggle, and it is dangerous.
Israel targets bakeries and water tanks, leading to the deaths of many in the search for these essentials.
Markets are empty. There are no eggs, lentils, milk or pasta. The list goes on.
Most of our farms are in eastern Gaza, near the boundary with Israel, where the bombings and shellings are more intense. Consequently, to produce any vegetables, the farmers must risk their lives.
Vegetables are a luxury we cannot afford.
Even fish is not an option. Israel has bombed the ships of the fishers, too.
If we do not die from Israel’s bombs, we will die from hunger and dehydration.
Left to die in silence
Using the bathroom is the one of the most dehumanizing experiences I have ever been through. The men leave the house’s bathroom for the women to use, and the men go to the streets to do their business.
Meeting our basic hygienic needs like bathing, brushing teeth and washing clothes is impossible.
We did not think the situation could get any worse. Then Israel cut our communications networks, leaving us to die in silence.
We cannot call an ambulance to help us if we get bombed.
We cannot call my brother in Egypt to let him know we are OK, for now.
We cannot call my mother, who goes to the hospital to work every day.
We wait anxiously until she comes home safe, as we know the hospitals are targets.
Losing our ability to communicate has made us feel isolated, scared and unprotected – that our suffering will be forgotten.
Electricity is almost nonexistent. We are among the lucky ones to have solar power.
Dozens of people come to our home to charge their phones so they can follow the news on what is happening to their homes.
Recently, Israel has targeted solar panels to deprive us of what he have left.
Kids are glued to the TV screen, watching the news with adults. They have had to grow up so fast.
They have had to know death too soon. They see other kids torn to pieces, not knowing if they are going to be next.
Israel has managed to destroy every aspect of our lives and turn it into a struggle. Thirty days of constant death, suffering, and dehumanization.
The suggestion by an Israeli minister of nuking Gaza seems a dreadful prospect, but what we are already enduring surpasses the horrors of such an act.
Sahar Qeshta is a writer in Gaza.
