NAGHAM KARAJEH

Gaza- The ongoing Israeli attacks on the shelter centers, schools and hospitals in the Gaza Strip affect women and children the most.

Ahlam Al-Rifai is a Palestinian woman displaced from the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza to eastern Gaza due to the Israeli attack. “At first, I refused to flee despite the intensive attacks on the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The southern part of the Gaza Strip is a place like a “hell” suffering from poverty, hunger and diseases. Due to the attacks, I left my home, my memories, and stayed in a shelter center,” she told NuJINHA.

 ‘I saw nothing but destruction’

Ahlam Al-Rifai struggled to survive by finding food for her children at the shelter center. “In the middle of June, I woke up early in the morning. I burned firewood that I had collected to prepare breakfast for my children; however, the Israeli army targeted the shelter center hosting hundreds of displaced people. For a while, I saw nothing but destruction, then I lost my consciousness. When I regained my consciousness, I was lying on the ground with injuries. I heard the cries of my children. My relatives took me to a hospital because ambulances could not reach the center due to the attacks.”

‘Sometimes I feel like the whole world comes crashing down’

Speaking about the tragedy suffered by the injured, she said, “The hospital was suffering from the lack of medical supplies and medication. One of the doctors apologized for not being able to provide adequate treatment to me. I stayed at the hospital for about 10 days.”

Ahlam Al-Rifai still struggles to survive in another shelter center, collecting firewood, burning them, cooking and inventing solutions to save her children.

‘All I want is a safe place’

The displaced people staying in shelter centers have to wait in lines for hours to get a meal, a bottle of water. “My children always ask me when we will return home,” said Ahlam Al-Rifai. “All I want is a safe place for my children so that they will have a good childhood. I think this is very difficult.”