‘I felt helpless, I felt hopeless’
FIVE-YEAR-OLD Fathy tries to comfort his mother when she weeps over the death of his father, but the brave little boy’s eyes fill with tears when he sees other children with their dads.
He is just one of the many children left fatherless by Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza.
His mother Abeer has been widowed by the invasion which has now claimed the lives of more than 30,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children.
When Israel invaded last October, Abeer fled with Fathy and five-monthold Fawzy to the south. Her husband Fayez stayed to protect their home in North Gaza but lost his life when it was bombed. Life is now a daily struggle for the family to find food as they grieve for Fayez.
Fathy treasures the few pictures he has of his dad and tells his mum: “My father went to heaven.”
Trying to document the suffering of families like Fathy’s is Palestinian journalist Haneen Harara, 31, who says goodbye to her three children every day fearing she will not return from work alive.
She said: “I witness many things more than death. Every day is getting more dire.”
She and her family feel lucky if they survive the day.
“It is something like slow torture for us, as a collective punishment against civilians and innocent people across the Gaza Strip,” said Harara. “Every walk could be targeted. We have no idea who will survive and who will be the one telling the stories about the dead.
“We are feeling so tired because we, as normal people, as normal mothers, want to survive and want a normal life for our children and kids.”
The husband of another woman, Ameera, is safe in Belgium where he works but her situation is desperate. The 29-year-old psychologist is six months pregnant and her current “home” is a tent with two mattresses which she shares with her young child, her mother and sister.
Living conditions are horrendous, Ameera is unable to access medical care and if she does manage to sleep she has constant nightmares.
She also fears for her elder child’s health. They have already had diarrhoea, colds and flu and she has not been able to buy essential supplies, as the cost of baby items has rocketed.
For those who are disabled, the suffering is extreme. Wheelchairbound grandmother Baraa sometimes finds it so difficult to negotiate the rubble-strewn streets in search of food and firewood that she crawls.
She and her family share a shelter with seven other people, and the lack of a private bathroom is an added hardship. Her health has deteriorated and the mounting pressures have also severely affected her mental well-being.
“The mere thought of gathering firewood or cooking seems like an unattainable luxury,” she said. “Even the simplest task becomes arduous.”
She added: “We hold onto the hope that one day, peace will prevail and our lives will regain some semblance of normality.”
Buthaina Faqáwi lost her fouryear-old grandson after a raid by the Israeli army on the Culture and Free Thought Association building where she worked. He was on the ground floor and she said the soldiers would not let him go to her on the first floor.
She said: “I have been advocating for children’s rights and protection for 30 years. Yet I could not help protect my children and my grandchildren. I felt helpless, I felt hopeless.”
The women were eventually allowed to leave the building but Faqáwi said the scene was devastating with bodies strewn around.
Iman Irqiq, 33, worked as a teaching assistant at the kindergarten in the Atfaluna Society. She is currently living in a tent with her husband, who was injured during the invasion.
She said: “Our apartment and all our cherished belongings have been lost ... may the world work towards a future where no-one has to endure the pain and loss we have faced.”
These testimonies have been gathered by Oxfam to mark IWD. Some names have been changed