In this special issue of Euronews Witness, we travel to the heart of the Gaza Strip to collect moving testimonies. We listen to the heartbreaking stories of those living in this besieged territory, where death, destruction and despair shape daily life.
Israel continues its bombing campaign in Gaza relentlessly, day and night, in retaliation for the massive Hamas attack on October 7.
According to the Hamas government, at least 14,000 Palestinians, including 5,800 children, have been killed in Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
Ambulances and civilians rush to the bombing sites every day, hoping to save survivors.
A scene that repeats itself tirelessly: in the rubble of destroyed buildings, the inhabitants of Gaza search, pulling out the wounded and the deceased.
“We thought we were the only ones affected, but when we left the house, we discovered bodies ejected more than 40 meters from the Al-Ghoul family house,” said Abu Ibrahim, a resident of al-Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
“There were seven girls, and some bodies and body parts were on the roof of a market. Later, a fire due to aerial bombardment completely consumed the bodies,” he added.
Gaza hospitals near breaking point
The humanitarian crisis is escalating in Gaza’s hospitals, reaching a critical level.
Medical facilities in the region are overwhelmed as victims flood in, rushed to emergency treatment every night. Inside, medical staff, including doctors and nurses, work with frantic energy to save lives, whether children or injured adults.
Days before the Israeli ground offensive began on October 27, Israeli planes dropped millions of leaflets over Gaza City, urging residents to flee south.
After entering the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops slowly and methodically began to encircle Gaza City, completely cutting it off from the rest of the Strip.
According to the United Nations, the situation is worsening as more than half of Gaza’s hospitals have been forced to close since the start of the conflict, the result of Israeli attacks in retaliation for civilians killed or taken hostage by Hamas.
Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has caused a humanitarian crisis, with a rapid shortage of essential medicines and fuel to power generators. In the few hospitals still operational, medical staff are overwhelmed by the influx of new patients.
Dr Ahmad Moghrabi, head of the plastic surgery department at Nasser hospital, expresses his dismay: “The health situation in the Gaza Strip is dire. Most hospitals are out of service or operating with great difficulty.”
Medical staff at Nasser Hospital, including doctors from the NGO Médecins sans Frontières, are facing heartbreaking dilemmas due to the critical shortage of medical supplies. These professionals are forced to make difficult choices to determine who should receive medical care, de facto, who will be lucky enough to survive.
With medical resources extremely limited, staff at Nasser Hospital are forced to use novel alternatives such as vinegar and shampoo to disinfect wounds. In desperate situations, surgical interventions are even performed without anesthesia.
Dr. Moghrabi, during an interview with Euronews, shared the cruel reality of the situation: “We receive patients whose injuries are not prioritized for intervention, but due to a lack of available beds, we place them in the corridors and on the balconies while waiting for their turn for an operation. But for urgent cases, we try to treat them as soon as possible, but sometimes they are treated late and their situation becomes catastrophic.”
“What did my children do to be blown to pieces?”
Every day, the Israeli army opens a road for several hours to allow civilians to flee to the south. But this road was not completely safe for the Al-Nimnim family.
Their truck was targeted in an Israeli strike, destroying the lives of 36 family members. Only three survivors escaped the tragedy and are currently receiving care in a tent provided by the European Union International Aid Agency at al-Aqsa hospital.
ADVERTISEMENT“What did my children do to be reduced to pieces? They became human remains. I found six bodies intact, while the others were divided into pieces in plastic bags,” testifies with sadness Nabeel al-Nimnim, one of the survivors of this attack.
Flee or stay?
With almost half of the Gaza Strip severely damaged or even destroyed, many residents have been forced to seek refuge to the south. However, others deemed this escape route too dangerous, opting to stay in their homes.
A reality difficult to accept for those who, 81%, are refugees or descendants of refugees who were displaced during previous conflicts with Israel.
“Where could we go?” asks Abu Ibrahim, a resident of the al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. “There is no way to leave our homes. Even if it means risking my life, I will not leave. This is my land and I will not abandon it.”
Despite these difficulties, according to Israeli statements in mid-November, a large majority of the million Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip managed to flee to the south in complete safety. For many, this escape was made on foot, taking with them as much as they could carry.
ADVERTISEMENTEven in areas that should provide safe haven for civilians, the reality remains devastating. On November 5, at least 45 civilians were victims of an Israeli airstrike in the Maghazi refugee camp, according to Palestinian authorities in Gaza.
This camp, for which the Israeli army had recommended that Palestinian civilians take shelter there, was the scene of this deadly tragedy. An Israeli army spokesperson said that an investigation was underway to verify the possible involvement of Israeli forces in this specific area.
Insufficient aid
In the southern Gaza Strip, where increasing numbers of new refugees from the north are arriving, vital resources such as bread, fuel and water are becoming increasingly scarce. Every day, endless queues form, with the slim hope of obtaining even a little help.
A voice of despair is raised among the displaced Palestinians: “We led a dignified life in our homes. But since our displacement, we have been reduced to humiliation.”
“We are pleading for bread and repairs to faulty sewage systems in schools. Our fears are growing over the risk of disease, especially with the continued threat of coronavirus to our children. Please have mercy on We !”, says a Palestinian woman, expressing the dismay and the crying needs of these displaced and vulnerable populations.
ADVERTISEMENTRefugees from the northern Gaza Strip have set up new camps further south, but these precarious facilities are not enough to protect them against the bad weather. These destitute camps do not benefit from any basic services, even without functional toilets.
Aid is reaching Gaza in an extremely limited way. Each delivery is limited in quantity, with each truck carrying only a tiny portion of the essential supplies.
The endless wait
On the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, hundreds of people nervously scan the posted times, hoping to get their opportunity to leave the Gaza Strip.
Only a limited number of foreign nationals have received permission to leave Gaza. For many of them, the wait persists. Katya Miess, a German woman who arrived a week before the start of the conflict to visit her Palestinian husband, is one of those people stuck in uncertainty.
“Everyone is suffering, crying, and living in fear. Day after day, bombs and missiles are the sad reality,” she shared with Euronews.
ADVERTISEMENT“People feel lost, abandoned by their own country. The future is uncertain. Every day, the population lives in fear for their lives. This situation is anything but normal.”
As the critical situation in Gaza’s health system worsens, ambulances carrying injured Palestinians have managed to cross the Egyptian border, taking advantage of a brief opening.
However, this opening has not benefited the delivery of vital fuel to the Gaza Strip. This shortage has seriously hampered the ability of hospitals to provide basic care, endangering the lives of many people, including premature newborns.
Faced with this alarming deterioration, Dr Ahmad Moghrabi expressed his concerns: “If this situation persists, in a few days we risk being unable to continue our activities. We will then witness tragedies and atrocities on a scale unprecedented in history.”
On November 15, the Israeli army took control of Al-Chifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, accusing Hamas of using the facility as its main base.
ADVERTISEMENTAt the time of our report, the Hamas command center remained untraceable.
