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A woman queuing to cook gas in central Gaza accused the world of failing Palestinians
Item information
- Author: Adnan ElBursh
- Scrolling, from BBC Arabic in Gaza
December 1, 2023
“Where are all the Arabs and Muslims in the world? Where are all the human rights defenders? They have allowed the Palestinian people to suffer, starve and be destroyed.”
She screams angrily at the sky. Desperation and frustration are visible on his face, desperation looms in the background.
“We have been standing in line since morning to fill a gas cylinder. I said my morning prayer standing up.”
She says she had to leave her home in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, just 2 km from the border with Israel.
“I can’t describe the destruction. Entire families were deleted from civil registers. They were killed under their houses,” he says.
“Gaza has been completely destroyed. Have mercy on us.”
Today he lives with his family in a UN school in the city of Deir alBalah in central Gaza.
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Hundreds of people line up to cook gas in the city of Deir alBalah in central Gaza
After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 in a raid that killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages, the Israeli military began airstrikes and then launched a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
At least 14,800 Palestinians have died so far, according to the Hamasrun Health Ministry.
Hundreds of people line up to fill up with gas for cooking. Several young people are sitting on the cylinders. The atmosphere is tense. People are exhausted.
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A young man sits on a cooking gas cylinder in Deir alBalah
Since the ceasefire began on November 24, around 200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip every day. This total is about half of what was recorded before the war.
UN agencies say they have managed to get some aid to the north, where the Israeli army has set up bases, but there are still major shortages everywhere.
Another man in line agrees to be interviewed. “There isn’t even a cup of tea or a packet of biscuits. Yesterday people shared their bread while sleeping on the streets. People spent the night here, in the rain and cold. May God help us.”
Israel cut off all fuel deliveries at the start of the conflict. According to a US State Department official, it later allowed a limited amount to be imported into Gaza, currently 140,000 liters every two days.
The Israeli government claims the extra fuel could be used by Hamas, an organization designated as a terrorist by Israel, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, as well as other Western powers.
Mohammed alQidrah waits patiently in line for gas.
“We have been here for three days. We arrived two nights ago and from 3am until now we haven’t been able to refuel. We can’t find fuel or flour or anything. It’s very hard to find things and when.” When you find them, you have to join them all.
No toilets or medical treatment
Fuel and supply shortages are not the only threat to the people of Gaza.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that untreated diseases could kill more people than bombings if the health system is not restored.
The warning came as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas entered its fifth day after a 48hour extension was agreed.
Diarrhea and respiratory infections are common among children in UN shelters, where around 1.3 million people currently live.
Overcrowding, lack of food, water, sanitation, basic hygiene and waste disposal are increasing the number of diseases, WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed on his X account (formerly Twitter).
He said there were thousands of cases of scabies (scabies), chickenpox and jaundice, and nearly 40,000 children under 5 had diarrhea.
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People are angry and scared because they have to queue for up to three days to get cooking oil
“We need a lasting ceasefire. Now. It is a matter of life and death for the civilian population,” he said.
Failure to treat diarrhea, especially in babies, can worsen children’s health and lead to rapid death, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said.
The current conditions in the emergency shelters don’t help either.
“On average, there is one shower for every 700 people and only one toilet for every 150 people,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said last week.
Patients with chronic diseases such as cancer also do not receive treatment.
According to the United Nations, only five hospitals are partially operational in northern Gaza, the area that has been the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.
Eight of the eleven hospitals are in the south, where the Israeli army ordered civilians to flee. Only one of these hospitals has the capacity to treat severe trauma or perform complex surgeries.
In this context, Unicef spokesman James Elder saw children with serious war injuries lying on hospital floors for hours without being able to be treated.
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During the ceasefire in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinians try to save the remains of their olive harvest
A little return to life
Displaced children and their families are also suffering from the lack of adequate shelter and clothing to protect them from the rainy and cold weather currently prevailing in Gaza.
According to U.S. officials, 800 aid trucks entered Gaza in the first four days of the ceasefire and some reached the north.
This sum represents an increase compared to previous days, but is still only a fraction of the usual amount.
UN agencies say a resumption of fighting is unthinkable under such conditions and have renewed calls for a permanent ceasefire.
In this scenario, while the ceasefire continues, there are signs that some life is returning to the region with the return of the remains of the olive oil harvest.
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There is a fuel shortage, but the Palestinians manage to process some of their olive harvest
“We must seize this opportunity, we must not waste time,” Palestinian farmer Fathy Abu Salah told Portal. He lives in Khan Younis in the south.
“This war has destroyed us, there is almost no production. Most of the crop was lost,” he adds.
The lack of electricity has resulted in a reliance on fuel to run the machinery at the mill where the olives are ground.
“The search for fuel is a crisis that everyone faces,” said Mohamed Wafy, an olive farmer and worker at an olive oil factory.
“As soon as we have fuel, we can open the mill, even if it is running at minimal capacity,” he explains.