GAZA, (PIC)
Citizen Khaled Abu Shawish never imagined that the Asdaa amusement park would become a refuge for him and his family amid the ongoing Israeli war of genocide on Gaza, after it had been a place for relaxation and enjoyment.
Abu Shawish said that he was forced to set up a displacement tent in Asdaa after the first Israeli incursion into Khan Yunis in December 2023, having fled from the Japanese area west of the city, followed by the destruction of his home.
He describes the life of displacement as bitter, stating it is the hardest experience one can face in life. “We never imagined we would reach this stage,” he emphasizes, affirming that there is no choice but to endure and confront the situation.
Asdaa is a city for artistic and media production established on the ruins of Israeli settlements in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, which was liberated from occupation in 2005. It features green spaces, recreational games for children, a zoo, and the largest water park in the Gaza Strip.
The city, covering more than a thousand dunums in Khan Yunis, was once a destination for all residents of the Strip for entertainment and leisure. However, with the ongoing genocide for 11 months, it has become a refuge for displaced families who have lost their homes. Tents stretch as far as the eye can see, and they live in harsh conditions under the constant threat of Israeli shelling.
Abu Shawish adds that the city is witnessing a severe humanitarian crisis, lacking essential living services, as it was designed for entertainment and short trips, not for long-term residence.
He continues, “During this time of year, we would always visit Asdaa for our weekend holiday with our families. Now, months have passed in a place filled with sadness and despair, visible on the faces of children and adults alike, as everyone suffers the bitterness of life and the hardships of existence.”
In the heart of the city, located at the beginning of the Muwasi area to the west, Abu Shawish mentions that he can hardly find a place to stand due to the extreme overcrowding of displaced people, compounded by the struggle to obtain basic resources for living, a situation shared by all the displaced.
Residents of the displacement camps live in a constant state of anxiety about sudden Israeli attacks or shelling, as well as the possibility of contracting illnesses due to a lack of medicine and healthcare. At the same time, they are suffering from severe hunger and thirst and struggling in an unclean environment that lacks even basic sanitation facilities.
Despite all international organizations being aware of the city’s location and that it is a major shelter center, it frequently comes under brutal shelling from the occupation army, as occurred during the recent incursion into Khan Yunis last August.
In a place dominated by a swing visible from afar, the tent of citizen Nadra Muqaddad, a displaced person from al-Shati Camp west of the city, can be seen. She says, “We used to come here for entertainment and fun, and today we are living the hardest days of our lives.”
Muqaddad describes life in the Asdaa camp as unsuitable for human living due to the accumulation of waste and sewage between the tents. “This is not a life for any ordinary human being. There is nothing: no water, no food, no healthcare, not even a toilet,” she notes, pointing out that the tents are tightly packed together with no separations between them.
Muqaddad is forced to walk long distances to obtain a little amount of water, and she cannot afford enough food, relying instead on canned goods distributed by the United Nations. She highlights that the biggest problem lies in the lack of cash amid rising prices and significant exploitation.
Many public places, including prisons and cemeteries, have turned into displacement communities as thousands of displaced individuals have sought refuge there, looking for unseen safety in southern Gaza.
More than two million Palestinians are crammed into what the occupation claims is a “humanitarian area,” which makes up less than 11% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, living in extremely dire conditions. According to reports from international organizations, for every 10 Palestinians, 9 have been forced to leave their homes and displace once or multiple times.
UNRWA has warned that the infrastructure in Khan Yunis has been completely destroyed, with no water, electricity, or sewage systems. It noted that displaced people fleeing from Khan Yunis and Rafah are returning to areas that are unfit for living under any circumstances.
The United Nations has refused to consider the Muwasi area a safe zone, stating that it lacks the basic conditions for security and other essential humanitarian needs, and it lacks a mechanism to oversee the implementation of a safe area there. It has only managed to set up a tent camp for the displaced.
Relief workers in Muwasi, which had been a refuge for several months for those fleeing the Israeli genocide, described the conditions there as “horrific and degrading to humanity,” with limited food, dirty and scarce water, overcrowded healthcare facilities, and almost no sanitation.
