The Electronic Intifada 6 May 2024
Everyone is traumatized in Gaza.
APA imagesHana and Ramadan are two of many Palestinian children whose lives have been upended by war.
They have a sister with cancer. Last year, she traveled from Gaza to the occupied West Bank so that she could receive treatment there.
She was accompanied by the children’s mother, who was still away from Gaza when the genocide began.
After Israel declared its war, Hana, 12, and Ramadan, 17, had to take shelter with relatives.
At one point, their father went to check on the home they had abandoned. He was shot dead by an Israeli sniper.
To survive, the children had to eat animal feed and drink dirty water. They were unable to wash for months.
Hana once had beautiful hair. It became infested with lice and had to be cut short.
The children’s mother tirelessly sought help for them. Eventually, she found someone who was willing to fund their trip to Egypt and then Sweden.
First, the children had to move from the northern part of Gaza towards the south.
Along the way, they met a man who agreed to accompany them. They were stopped by Israeli soldiers, who interrogated the man at gunpoint, while Hana and Ramadan pleaded their innocence.
Eventually, Hana and Ramadan were able to continue their journey.
When they arrived at my family’s doorstep, they were exhausted and badly in need of assistance.
There is a truck driver. Let’s call him Mahmoud.
When he can, Mahmoud brings aid to northern Gaza.
Moving from north to south is perilous, not least because of Israel’s roadblocks.
Many desperate people in the north have begged Mahmoud to smuggle them southwards, so that they can check on loved ones who have been displaced.
When Israeli soldiers discovered that such smuggling was taking place, they ordered that aid trucks keep their doors open. The Israelis have threatened to shoot anyone found hiding inside the trucks.
Hijaz had got married a few months before the current war. By the time it began, his wife was pregnant.
The couple faced a heartbreaking decision when Israel declared Gaza City a combat zone and ordered its evacuation.
Hijaz tried to persuade his wife that they should stay together.
But she made the painful decision to remain with her own family, while Hijaz stayed with his. He is his parents’ only son and his family needed him.
Hijaz has not been able to see his wife since they were torn apart. She is due to give birth in the near future.
God only knows when or how the couple will be reunited.
Sahar Qeshta is a writer in Gaza.
