In Gaza now, people only bother to announce deaths when an entire family has been killed. In this dense urban fabric, generations are used to living in the same building, sharing the floors. Since October 7, the bombings carried out by the Israeli army on the Palestinian enclave, in retaliation for the Hamas attack in Israel which left more than 1,400 dead, have pulverized hundreds of buildings, often burying their inhabitants without warning. Dozens of families have been removed from the civil register. “My uncle is a martyr!”wrote on Facebook on October 26 Wissam Al Naouq, Gazan translator and writer. He was probably sleeping. He was killed along with twenty-one of his sons, daughters and grandchildren. ».
The health ministry of the Hamas-held enclave announces more than 8,300 Palestinians killed in Gaza, including more than 3,450 minors. In three weeks of war, the results “has surpassed the number of minors killed each year in all conflict zones around the globe since 2019”the NGO Save the Children was alarmed on October 29.
In addition to these figures, there are probably more than a thousand bodies buried under the rubble. The rescue teams, without resources, are too few in number; Very often, neighbors, with their bare hands, lit at night by cell phones or flashlights, try to save those who are still screaming.
Under blockade for more than sixteen years, the Gaza Strip has been kept under siege by the Israelis since October 9. Nothing comes out, the inhabitants are trapped there. Almost nothing enters, apart from a few humanitarian aid trucks which the Israeli authorities carefully inspect – too little to ensure the survival of some 2.4 million Gazans.
Invisible to the rest of the world
There is no more gas, no electricity, soon no more water or fuel. Residents wash and wash dishes in the sea. Buying bread and finding a bottle of drinking water can take up an entire day. Garbage is no longer collected.
Adding to the chaos, all communications were cut for thirty-six hours on October 28 and 29. Gazans have become invisible to the rest of the world. Without news from their loved ones, they were unable to call for help after the bombings.
No place is safe in the enclave. In recent days, the Israeli army has threatened to bomb the enclave’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, accusing Hamas of establishing its main base of operations under the facility.
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