Gaza- Forced displacement due to the brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip imposed harsh living conditions on children, who found themselves forced to carry out tasks beyond their childhood, in order to help their families manage their daily affairs.
The child, Adham Nusair (13 years old), sits in front of a primitive stove after spending a long time collecting some wood and cardboard to light a fire in order to prepare bread for his family, which lives in Doha Secondary School in the city of Rafah, in the far south of the Strip.
The Nusair family was displaced from their home in the town of Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip, with the outbreak of war on October 7, in anticipation of the Israeli attacks that this town is accustomed to, adjacent to the Israeli security fence. They resided for weeks in a school in the town of Beit Lahia, before they were forced to flee again. To the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
This town was subjected to widespread destruction of its farms, infrastructure, and homes, including the home of the child Naseer’s family. Despite his young age, Adham told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “My wish is to return to Beit Hanoun and rebuild our destroyed house.”
A tortured childhood
In a classroom like the walls of Adham’s family and other relatives, Adham was supposed to be sitting in his chair receiving his education in the eighth grade of middle school, in one of the destroyed schools of his town. Instead, he found himself displaced, suffering from hardship, and sharing with the men of his family. Responsibility in providing her daily needs.
Adham realized the hardships of work early, and said, “By God, I am tired. We are tired and cannot find food. We want to go back to our homes.” What he says is a realistic translation of warnings from international organizations about a famine facing 2.3 million Palestinians, about 85% of whom were forced to flee their homes, and the death of a number of them from starvation was documented.
Despite the harshness of what Adham and his peers are suffering, the scenes of these children have become familiar in the streets and public squares, and in front of the doors of shelter centers in government schools or affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the city of Rafah, standing on modest “sales stands” to provide small amounts of money that contribute to Providing some of their families’ needs of goods and merchandise that have become scarce in the markets.
The majority of goods and merchandise have been sold out in shops and markets, which are witnessing a crazy rise in prices as a result of a severe siege imposed by Israel, coinciding with the escalating war for the third month in a row. Meanwhile, UNRWA says that “relief supplies coming from the Rafah land crossing with Egypt meet only 5% of the needs of Gazans.”
Work instead of school
Just before the first light of day, the two brothers Anas (12 years old) and Mahmoud (10 years old) accompanied their father Ayman Rayhan (36 years old) towards a small stall that he had set up using an old wooden plank, near a shelter center in an UNRWA school, where his family of 5 members resides. The meager aid is not enough.
Anas and Mahmoud help their father Ayman prepare bread, popularly called “saj bread,” and prepare it on a primitive wood-fired stove, to overcome a severe cooking gas crisis. The eldest son told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “I work with my father to provide for my family’s needs… The school ate enough for us.”
Ayman had never worked in this profession, but he found it a source of livelihood, in light of people’s need for ready-made bread, due to the severe shortage of flour, the rise in the prices of what is available on the black market by about 12 times, and the inability of the majority suffering from extreme poverty to buy it.
The process of preparing the bread begins with Ayman with kneading, cutting, and balling, and is passed on to his two sons, Anas and Mahmoud. They are responsible for rolling out the piece of dough into medium-sized circles, then ripening it on the stove, before offering it for sale to passers-by, who are crowded in the streets of Rafah.
It is estimated that more than 700,000 displaced people took refuge in this city, which was inhabited by less than 300,000 before the outbreak of war.
Mahmoud, who dreams of studying medicine when he grows up, says, “The school is for education, not for housing (…) Life is difficult, severe crowding and diseases, and there is no water for drinking or hygiene, and food is scarce, and it is all canned food. We do not know if it is good or not.”
Bakery seller
Not far from Rayhan’s family, displaced from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, the child Ahmed Abu Assi (14 years old) calls out to passers-by, promoting baked goods made by his displaced family from the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. This family (25 members) resides in a rented house.
Ahmed told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “My grandfather, who came up with the idea, bought a bag of flour, and the women prepare the pastries (baked goods) at home, and I carry them every day to sell them in the market from morning until evening, so that we can buy vegetables and other necessary things with their price.”
Ahmed is satisfied with what he gets daily from selling baked goods. He says, “I sell every day everything that my family prepares. The country has no need, and people eat everything because of the war and siege.”
Israel imposes severe restrictions on aid trucks arriving into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing with Egypt, preventing it from flowing at a faster pace and in sufficient quantities, while it continues to close the only Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, and prevents the supply of goods and commercial goods to the small coastal strip.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory said that thousands of displaced people who arrived in the city of Rafah face extremely overcrowded conditions, exceeding 12,000 people per square kilometre, and suffer inhumane conditions that reach the point of tragedy.
The Geneva-based human rights monitor warns of the dangers of Israel’s plans to turn forced displacement into a reality, as this entails leaving the displaced people increasingly prey to diseases, epidemics, and hunger.