A UN tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, seen November 19 Fatima Shbair/AP/FILE
Not long ago, Wajih Ajour had a steady job in Gaza City delivering bread on a bus. Now the 38-year-old, his wife and three children are destitute, sleeping in a tent in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip and subsisting on lentils and beans.
“We started the war and the people are the biggest victims,” he told CNN in a telephone interview with Khan Younis.
When the Israeli military warned civilians in northern Gaza and Gaza City to move south in October, Ajour loaded his extended family onto his bus and headed south.
“There were about 40 of us,” Ajour said. “This bus would not accommodate more than 13 passengers. However, since it was difficult to get transport, we crowded in and took nothing from our houses, no clothes, nothing. We thought the war wouldn’t last long.”
The journey south was a nightmare as the nearby shells caused the children to cry. Ajour remembers people jumping out of cars and running in panic. Finally they reached Khan Younis, a journey of only a few miles, long after dark.
“We didn’t know where to go and didn’t know anyone in southern Gaza. We visited more than one school but found that the schools were full and there was no option to stay there. We kept asking where we should go and in the end we heard that there was a place that belonged to UNRWA [the UN agency in Gaza] west of Khan Younis.”
The first night away from their home, they slept on the floor without blankets or mattresses. This became the new normal.
“They provided us with a mattress for my father-in-law because he is sick. My pregnant sister didn’t get anything, and the kids didn’t get anything.”
Ajour said even people who had left their homes soon ran out of cash because of the high prices.
“The longer the war lasts, the greater the crisis for the people. So far we are waiting to return to our homes.”
Until then, Ajour and most of his family are living in a tent that they had to buy, even if the family home is still standing.
“As far as food goes, of course there is nothing but lentils, beans, tuna and rice,” cooked on a wood fire.
Ajour said his family is receiving less help as more people flock to the South every day.
“In the beginning we received help to cover our needs, such as canned goods, beans, meat and tuna, but also cleaning products and soap. But days after thousands of people arrived at this place, aid is not reaching everyone,” he said
“People are in an indescribable situation. I never thought that once a week I would be looking for food for the children, sleeping in tents or showering. All children are sick. My neighbor in the tent next door died as a result of neglect,” he continued.
Ajour added that he hopes the war ends “as soon as possible.”