“I’m talking to you and I’m expecting to die at any moment. You can’t imagine how hard life is here now,” says 24-year-old Ala’a Hammouda from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. “Bombs are everywhere. Everyone is a target for them. Children, old people, mosques, schools. You don’t feel safe anywhere.”
In the 26 days since Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip began, Ala’a has had many calamities visited upon her family. “On the fourth or fifth day of the war an Israeli bomb went off in our yard. Our house was partially destroyed,” she shares. “We were all home at the time. My daughter is two years old. When I went to search for her to see if she was ok or not I found her covered in rocks and dust. There was glass everywhere, parts of the bomb were inside the house. It was a disaster that day.”
“On the 12th day of the war, the Israelis bombed my uncle’s house,” she continues. “Two of his children died and a third is in very critical condition. He lost two of his children. My uncle is an old man, a peaceful man. He has no weapons, he has nothing to do with politics. But they bombed his house anyway.” Israeli attacks also destroyed Ala’a’s sister’s house and her father’s business – a kindergarten.
Desperation and pain wear heavy on Ala’a’s voice as she describes her current situation and what she has seen. “Everything is very hard, the situation is getting worse and worse,” she says.
“People are running out of food, money, and there is no clean water to drink. Sometimes we don’t have electricity for four, five, or six days. Even we the adults are scared, so what about the children? The life they are living is miserable. My daughter is only two years old and she now knows the word ‘bomb’ and screams as she puts her fingers in her ears, ‘Mom! Bomb! Hide me!’ I don’t know what to tell her.”
Ala’a works as a local fixer for international news agencies and as part of her job has visited UN schools now converted into shelters. “The conditions there are terrible,” she explains. “4,500 people in one school. 20 people sleeping in one classroom. There is no water and no food. Children are sleeping everywhere on the ground. Trash and garbage is everywhere. It’s miserable.”
Above all, Ala’a’s concerns begin and end with regards to her family. “We’re living in a prison, we can’t leave our house,” she bemoans.
“In 26 days I have only left the house to go with reporters. We just stay in the house, praying to stay alive. We put cotton in the ears of the children to protect them. I’m afraid that I’m going to lose my baby, my husband, my family. None of us are safe. People are dying everywhere and no one is saying anything. Israel will continue with its crimes knowing that no one is going to stop them. The only ones who are dying in this war are women, children and civilians. We need the people to do something, to start acting for people in Gaza.”