The ceaseless Israeli bombardment of besieged Gaza has produced destruction and loss of life that is unprecedented in the history of the Strip. It also unearthed the kind of humanity, courage and hope that challenges Israeli barbarism in remarkable ways.
Palestine Chronicle’s correspondent in Central Gaza, Abdallah Aljamal, introduces us to some of the stories, those resulting from the Israeli death machine, but also those of resilience and humanity that allow Gaza to stay strong, to remain human.
Running out of Food
“All food distributors have run out of supplies. Most commercial shops are closed. We can’t find anything in the midst of this terrible war that has entered its 33rd day, and there is no food entering Gaza. The situation is catastrophic,” Majdi al-Dishat told The Palestine Chronicle.
Al-Dishat, a small business owner in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp said, “I closed my shop about two weeks ago for several reasons. The first reason is that the building where the shop is located was hit by an Israeli rocket, causing extensive damage to the building.
“I have closed the shop because of the damage, but also because the goods in the shop have run out. Even the merchandise that customers weren’t interested in buying is gone,” he continued.
Hamza Dwaidar works in the commercial area of Nuseirat.
“I work in a medium-sized commercial store, and for about two weeks, all the merchandise in the store has run out, and there is no merchandise to sell,” he told us, adding,
“There are no traders to supply us with goods, and there is bombing everywhere, so we have closed the shop until the war ends”.
We Don’t Want Food, We Want the War to Stop
Commenting on the absence of food, Yasmine Ahmed said, “We don’t want to eat; we just want the war to stop. We want to live in safety. Security is more important than food. Stop this war.”
“Even if goods enter, they won’t be enough for the needs of Gaza’s residents,” She continued, adding:
“No areas in the Strip are safe. Many people were killed while they were in the markets. Israel is targeting everything in Gaza. Security and food are important, but we want security and safety and an end to the war, first.”
In addition to the problem of not having access to food, Israeli forces have also denied the delivery of fuel and has closed all commercial crossings since the first day of its aggression on October 7.
This has led to the shutdown of the only power generator station, resulting in a continuous power outage in the Gaza Strip for the past 30 days. Moreover, the Israeli army has targeted and destroyed solar panels.
Gaza gets its electricity from three sources: the first is through the power generation station, the second from power lines that come from Israel, and the third is a small electricity line estimated at 30 megawatts from Egypt.
If all three of these sources were operating at their full capacity, the electricity schedule would be subject to an 8-hour on, 8-hour off system, a pattern that Gaza residents have become accustomed to since the Israeli blockade was imposed in 2006.
Journalist Ahmed Saleh pointed out that Israeli forces targeted the solar panels that generated a small portion of the power at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex on Monday, completely destroying them and causing significant damage to the complex’s rooftops.
“The solar panels on the main building of Al-Shifa Hospital were targeted, as well as the solar power cells on a house belonging to the Saadi family behind the courthouse in the Nusairat camp,” Saleh stated.
“This is a new policy the Israelis have been implementing in the past two days to make this difficult situation even more unbearable,” he concluded.
(The Palestine Chronicle).
– Abdallah Aljamal is a Gaza-based journalist. He is a contributor for The Palestine Chronicle from the Gaza Strip. His email is abdallahaljamal1987@gmail.com
