GAZA, (PIC)
Mothers in displacement camps are struggling to survive after losing their husbands, children, and homes. They live under harsh conditions that violate human dignity. Amid the pain of loss, the cruelty of hunger, and the suffering of displacement, they endure a human reality that grows more tragic with each passing day.
Since the beginning of the genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation has killed more than 12,400 women. Over 14,000 women have lost their husbands, and around 60,000 pregnant women are facing real danger due to the lack of healthcare, according to data from the Government Media Office in Gaza.
More than 90 percent of the Strip’s population has been displaced—some multiple times—and now reside in overcrowded shelters or out in the open, amidst the spread of disease and water shortages. Palestinian and UN officials have repeatedly warned about the consequences of the continued closure of crossings and the prevention of food, medicine, and fuel from entering for nearly two months.
Alone with seven children
In a tent lacking the most basic necessities of life in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian mother Umm Mohammad Abu Daqa lives with her seven children after losing her husband and one of her sons in an Israeli bombing.
She says: “My husband and son were martyred during the war. I live in a tent under harsh conditions. My children are injured and need treatment that isn’t available because of the blockade and the closure of crossings.”
Inside the tent, the situation speaks for itself. The space where the family gathers around a central pole lacks the simplest elements of a livable environment. The children have suffered through the cold of winter and now face the heat of summer once again, while their mother struggles to provide anything to ease their hunger or silence the growling of their stomachs.
She adds: “We suffer from hunger and have no one to support us. I resorted to grinding pasta to make bread after the flour ran out.” In a painful message, she called on mothers around the world to stand with the mothers of Gaza, demand an end to the genocide and the blockade, and provide humanitarian support to families who have lost everything.
Hunger and grief
A similar situation is lived by Umm Ayman, who lost her husband, child, and home in the bombing. She has been living in a tent made of nylon and tattered fabric ever since Israel destroyed her house several months ago.
She says: “I lost my son, my husband, and my home. I live in a tent with no food or water. I’m unable to go on with life—especially after the loss.” She points out that she walks long distances to get a small amount of water, whether for drinking or cooking.
She notes that her tent, made of fabric and nylon, offers no protection from the summer heat or winter cold. She hopes for an end to the genocide and pleads with mothers around the world to stand with Palestinian mothers, call for an end to the war, lift the blockade, and end the famine.
The tragedy of genocide
Sabreen Abu Daqa, who lost her husband and brother, says she lives with her five children under extremely harsh conditions. She adds: “There are no biscuits, no juice, no healthy meals to feed our children. We live on pasta only.”
She called on the Arab and Islamic worlds, as well as humanitarian organizations, to stand by the children of Gaza in light of the catastrophic situation caused by the genocide.
In another testimony, a Palestinian mother who lost her husband and home—and gave birth to an orphaned child after his father was killed in an Israeli strike—said they are living through a real famine. Without mentioning her name, she said: “No flour, no food, no water,” pointing out that the situation of women in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic.
In early March, the occupation army escalated its crimes by closing all crossings into the Strip and completely blocking the entry of humanitarian and relief aid and fuel trucks, in addition to resuming the genocide after the collapse of the ceasefire agreement.
The 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza depend entirely on this aid, having been turned into impoverished people by the ongoing genocide that Israel has been committing for the past 19 months, according to World Bank data.
With full US support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in over 172,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded—most of them women and children—and more than 11,000 missing persons.
