Hope Fades In Gaza As Conditions Worsen

As war continues to rage in the Gaza Strip, the local population is preparing itself for a drawn-out conflict. Raed Athamnah and his family are also feeling pessimistic as they hide in shelters to escape mortal danger.



Raed Athamnah and his family haven't been living in their house for a long time now. Shortly after the start of the Gaza offensive they had to abandon their home.



"Large parts of our house in Beit Hanoun were bombed," Athamnah tells DW in a phone interview. "Some doors are missing and one wall has been torn out."



Then he mentions that his phone battery is nearly empty. Electricity only comes on for a maximum of two to three hours a day, he explains.



"Water is also in short supply," continues Athamnah. "My children tell me all day that they want to shower. What we eat is not important to me, but the sanitary and medical conditions here in Gaza are catastrophic."



He, his wife and their eight children have split up for now. Athamnah is staying at an emergency shelter set up at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The camp was built by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Athamnah is accompanied there by his three older sons, sharing space with around 3,000 other displaced Palestinians.



They have three mattresses between them, as well as the contents of the large piece of luggage he took with him. Most of the men at the shelter sleep in the corridors or in the partly roofed courtyard. The main rooms are reserved for women and children, says Athamnah.



Deteriorating situation



His wife and daughters are staying at his sister's place, which is not far away. Altogether, nearly 70 family members have been taking refuge there - a three-room apartment - since fighting resumed on August 19 following the last ceasefire.



"Regardless of where you live, you can never feel safe in Gaza," says Athamnah, who works as a freelance journalist and assists foreign media in their research on the region.



On Thursday alone, at least 19 Palestinians perished in Israeli military strikes. Three high-ranking Hamas commanders were also killed. This brought the total number of Palestinian casualties since the beginning of the conflict on July 8 up to at least 2,069. On the Israeli side, three civilians and 64 soldiers have been killed so far.



"We assumed that the war would continue," says Athamnah. "We knew that the Israeli government wouldn't fulfill the demands put forward by the Palestinian leadership. In over 20 years, since the Oslo Accords, Israel hasn't made any concessions to Palestine."



Athamnah sounds tired and resigned. He says he has given up hope. His wish was that the international community would rally behind Palestine and support its demands for the abolishment of the border blockades and more human rights. But since the start of the Iraq crisis he hasn't seen many journalists in the Gaza Strip. He believes the world's attention is now focused elsewhere.



"Isn't it enough that so many children have been killed?" he asks. "After all, we also have the right to live in dignity."



Braced for more violence



Dignity to him means freedom of movement, being able to travel, having running water at home and not needing to rebuild his house every two to three years because it keeps getting destroyed in wars.



"Hamas didn't make any outrageous demands," Athamnah says. "They were just things that every human being is entitled to."



He wonders how a compromise between the two sides can ever be found. To him, Hamas disarmament as prescribed by Israel is simply impossible.



According to media reports, Israel is planning to call up 10,000 reserve soldiers for duty in the current war. Meanwhile, bombardment in the Gaza Strip has continued over the past three days, says Athamnah.



"We are preparing ourselves for a long war," he concludes. "I just don't know how I should explain this to my children."



According to the Save the Children organization, over 370,000 children in Gaza are in need of psychological counseling to come to terms with what they have already experienced.