Resilience Amidst Rubble: Palestinians’ Daily Struggle in Gaza as Diplomatic Efforts Escalate to End Conflict and Aid Crisis at Munich Conference.
ISTANBUL– An elderly Palestinian man, Abu Muhammad Hassan, embarks on a perilous daily mission to scavenge for firewood amid the wreckage of homes destroyed by the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip.
Accompanied by his 7-year-old granddaughter, Maryam, he ventures into the northern Gaza Strip to gather tree branches from the remnants of doors, windows and other debris.
With determination, Hassan carries the wood and large branches back to his courtyard while young Maryam helps by dragging as many branches as her small hands can manage, eager to assist her grandfather in their struggle to cope with the harsh living conditions.
Residents of the strip, especially Gaza City and the North Governorate, spend a long time every day collecting wood, firewood, and cardboard to use for fire to prepare food, heat water and for daily uses.
“Do you see the suffering we are experiencing in northern Gaza? We collect firewood from everywhere, even the destroyed and dangerous places,” said Hassan.
“We also cut some branches from trees planted in public streets, and then we search for food such as lentils, mallow and beans,” he added.
Since Israel waged its ruthless war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, the residents of the enclave have suffered greatly from fuel and cooking gas shortages.
After pressure from the U.N. and the international community, Israel allowed very limited humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing in the southern Gaza Strip.
“There is no gas, no water, no wheat flour; even rice as a substitute for flour does not exist,” says the elderly man.
“We have not received any aid here in the northern Gaza Strip,” he added.
“The conditions are difficult beyond any imagination, and we are trying to adapt to this life, but this is unreasonable,” Hassan added.
Before the war, only some families used to buy firewood for heating in the winter. However, the new conditions turned the lives of all Palestinians in the strip into a primitive one.
Hospital rampage
Israeli troops stormed the main hospital in southern Gaza on Friday, adding chaos for hundreds of staff and patients.
Health officials reported that five people in intensive care died after their oxygen was cut off due to the raid.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis had been besieged by Israeli troops for nearly a week, with those inside facing heavy fire and depleting supplies of food, water, and other necessities.
Prior to the hospital being seized, Israeli fire had already killed one patient and injured six others.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that if other countries recognize a Palestinian state, it would give a “reward to terrorism” and has repeatedly rejected the creation of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive and expand it to the Gaza city of Rafah, near Egypt, until Hamas is destroyed and scores of hostages taken during the group’s Oct. 7 attack are freed.
In their phone call, Biden again cautioned Netanyahu against moving forward with a military operation in Rafah before coming up with a “credible and executable plan” to ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians, the White House said.
Munich summit
Top politicians, military officials, and diplomats worldwide are in Munich for a security conference featuring discussions, including the Gaza conflict.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh are among the participants in the conference, which started on Friday and runs until Sunday.
The conference takes place as the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas enters its fifth month with no end in sight.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas incursion.
The ensuing Israeli attack has killed at least 28,775 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
Less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
Israel is accused of genocide in the Gaza Strip, and South Africa has filed a case in the International Court of Justice. In January, an interim ruling ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that civilians in Gaza receive humanitarian assistance.
Source: Daily Sabah
