Feature: Gazans yearn for end to suffering

GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) — The conflict in Gaza has been going on for over ten months, causing an unprecedented, ever-worsening humanitarian catastrophe, with nearly 40,000 lives lost.
One cannot help but ask: How many more lives must be lost, how many more women and children must die, and how many more homes must be destroyed before this tragedy can cease?
The spread of war has left untold numbers of people homeless. The bombings and attacks have not stopped even for a moment, and innocent civilians are dying every single day in places such as camps for displaced people, hospitals, UN schools and the so-called “safe zones” designated by Israel.
Yaser Adul Hadi, a Palestinian man displaced from northern Gaza, has endured his eighth relocation following an Israeli evacuation order from Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
“After every evacuation order, the Israeli army launches violent military operations, rendering the area uninhabitable,” said the 52-year-old father of seven.
“The places where I was most exposed to real death were the areas that the army claimed were safe. Only my good luck saved me from death. Now, I cannot expect to live long,” he said.
“It seems that the army wants to kill us all without exception, if not through bombing, then it’s through oppression, fatigue, and displacement,” the man added.
UN statistics showed that about nine out of ten people in Gaza are now estimated to be internally displaced, and many have been displaced multiple times.
People have been facing a severe shortage of necessities. Ahmed Arfan, a displaced Palestinian from Rafah, has set up a temporary tent in Khan Younis for his six-member family.
“I was forced to sleep in the open for several days. I had to send my children and wife to my relatives’ tents until I could set up our own,” Arfan, 39, told Xinhua.
After a terrible ordeal, Arfan found a small area near a landfill in Khan Younis’ Mawasi area to pitch his tent. “All day long we suffer from the foul smell of the waste. Mosquitoes and insects plague us day and night, but I have no choice. There are many displaced people here and (there is) no other place for us,” he said.
Many were struggling to carry on with their shattered life. Among them was Amna Abu Jahal, who chose to stay in the camp despite the harsh conditions after her husband was killed in the first week of the Israeli operation.
Every day, she had to spend many hours walking on foot to get a few liters of saline water to drink.
“The saline water was used for doing housework in the past, but now, we are forced to drink it. But I still feel lucky to find it,” the 48-year-old mother of four told Xinhua.
“The Israeli attack was retaliatory. They even destroyed public water wells and sewage networks,” she said.
UN statistics showed humanitarian aid entering Gaza has been more than halved since the Rafah ground operation began and Rafah Crossing was abruptly closed in early May.
The new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has dragged on for more than 300 days. Ceasefire negotiations have been conducted on and off with no breakthrough in sight.
While certain countries keep asserting that negotiations for a ceasefire are underway, Israel has continued its large-scale military operations over the past months.
Meanwhile, the negative spillover effects of the Gaza conflict are spreading and echoed at multiple points in the region, and the situation between Lebanon and Israel and the developments in the Red Sea are worrying.
In the face of this grave situation, the international community, especially the countries of the region, have frequently called on all parties to make joint efforts to avoid an escalation of the situation and to promote a ceasefire and an end to the war.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar has said in a statement that the international community must provide full protection for the displaced people and prevent the occupation forces from forcibly displacing them from the Strip.
King Abdullah II of Jordan said the region will remain vulnerable to an expansion of the conflict that threatens its stability as long as the war on Gaza continues, urging enhanced international efforts to stop the war by reaching an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the international community must work together to prevent any actions that could push the entire Middle East over the edge and inflict a devastating impact on civilians.
Last month, Abu Khaled al-Hussary, 72, chose to remain in Gaza City despite evacuation orders and passed away in his home.
“My father did not want to be killed in the southern areas of Gaza. He believed that there are no safe places in Gaza,” Khaled al-Hussary, the son of the elderly man, told Xinhua.
“Every day, we lose loved ones, homes, hopes, and the right to live until this war ends,” he said. ■