We are, after all, only humans

It is two weeks until my wife brings our child into the world.

The baby is happy now, inside its mother and somewhat protected from the violence and suffering that exists in Gaza.

Naturally, I am worried for mother and child. When my wife delivered our last child, she had many complications, complications that can no longer be addressed in Gaza due to the deterioration of the health system as a result of the blockade. In light of this, we decided a while back that she would have a caesarean rather than a natural birth. Caesareans at least are available in Gaza. If she were to have an acute problem during natural birth there would be no medication or treatment available - risking losing mother and child.

I asked myself the other day, when our child is finally born, what will they write on the hospital records, height, weight, Muslim, Palestinian? What does Palestinian mean now? It means, no clean water, no security, no freedom of movement and no certainty.

I will try as best as I can as a father to guarantee the future of my child but the future has been replaced with uncertainty not only for my family and me but for the 1.5 million people that live here.

We have no benzene to put in our cars. I have managed so far but I will have to change my car to run on domestic gas so that I can take my wife to the hospital. This is dangerous but most Gazans have to do this because of the lack of fuel coming in. We do not know for how long this will last so we cannot give up, we have to carry on as best we can. Lack of fuel is having a severe effect on hospitals. Many doctors and nurses can no longer get to work; ambulances have no fuel to reach the sick and injured.

I spoke to my friend today; I haven't seen him for a while. We used to speak every day but now we only do so from time to time as he spent the last nine months stuck in Egypt.
I was pleased to hear the excitement in his voice when he phoned. He is planning his wedding for the second time. Last year his brother got badly injured in some internal clashes so, he took him to Egypt to get treatment as the treatment as it is no longer available in Gaza. It was terrible, both him and his brother were unable to get back into Gaza because of the blockade. So there was no wedding.

Nine months later, when the Egyptian border was broken down his brother had a difficult choice to make - to go back to Gaza or to continue treatment that would enable him to walk again? They came back to Gaza, fearing that they may never be able to return to friends and family. His brother cannot walk because of the bullets lodged into his leg and there is no treatment for him here. He spends most of his day lying in bed.

Now reunited with his fiancé, wedding preparations are happening once more. We went shopping to get his wedding suit yesterday. Hours were spent looking for it in almost empty shops and needless to say that when he finally found what he needed it was costly. The shop owner even said when we told him we were looking for other things for the wedding " Don't keep on searching for things, you will not find anything. Keep the clothes that you now have for a long time and take care of them."

The question on all of our minds is how long this inhumanity will last for? We are, after all, only humans.