Voices from Gaza

13 January 2009

Oxfam's Mohammed Ali has been talking to people in Gaza City to find out how they are coping with the current crisis and if the daily three-hour lull in fighting is making any difference to their lives.

People's homes, police stations, schools, mosques and other buildings have been destroyed in this military attack on Gaza. An estimated 13,000 people have had to flee their homes so far. I spoke to several people outside Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City about how the attacks have affected them.

Saed Abu Hameema
Saed Abu Hameema is 35 years old. He comes from Beit Lahyia, in the north of Gaza Strip. An Israeli shell hit his home, killing five members of his family, including his brother and four of his nephews.

"The Israeli army did not warn us that they would shell our home. For five days now dead bodies have remained under the rubble and now, no one can reach them.

"I have one son who is missing, I don't know if he has been killed, or even arrested. I went to the International Committee of the Red Cross and then searched for him in the hospitals but I could not find him... I don't know what to do.

"Members of my family who are still alive are staying at a UN school ... we are so scared that we may be hit.

"I work as a farmer but for a long time I haven't had a job. The Israeli government is burying us... destroying us... We are originally refugees and we now find ourselves as refugees once more."

Ibrahim Sleem
Ibrahim Sleem is 64 years old, he is from Al Shejae'ya, east of Gaza City where he lives with seven family members.

"In spite of the Israeli shelling, I came to the hospital because I have diabetes, which is affecting my eyes, I will be blind if I do not get treatment as my condition is rapidly deteriorating.

"The hospital did not have the capacity to treat me, they told me that they can only deal with people in critical condition. I am an old man and I am dying. The Israeli Government are preventing people like me to get treatment like any other human being.

"The three hour truce is better than nothing, but its not enough... we cannot even evacuate the dead bodies and get food in that time. But at least there are less explosions."

Um Osama
Um Osama is 55 years old, from northern Gaza. Two days ago, her 23-year-old son Osama, and a group of his friends were hit by Israeli firepower; Osama is in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit, suffering from serious injuries to the head.

''My son might die any moment as doctors have told me that there is little chance he will make it.

"Three days ago, my son-in-law was killed, he only got married to my daughter 20 days ago, they were still on their honey moon... Tell me, what life we are living? Can the world not see what is happening to us, are they blind?!

"We are a poor family, my husband is a farmer but is unemployed... three hours of truce is not enough, anyhow, we have no money at all to buy food."

Fayz Naser
Fayz Naser is 56 years old, when I meet him his is standing with his son Mohammed who is eight years old. He is trying to find fuel so that his family can cook and eat.

"I live in Al Zaytoun neighbourhood east of Gaza, 17 of us live in a two story building, it is my family and my brother's family. We have no gas for cooking, no power, no water, no security.

"My son and I are walking from gas station to gas station in order to find some fuel to cook with. Our lives have been totally destroyed.

"The three hour truce is nonsense, the Gaza Strip is totally empty, what can we do with these three hours? There is hardly any food in the shops, no gas... no vegetables and no money available.

"I appeal to the international community and every one who has a sense of humanity to act and open the crossings - we need life, not death."

Kamal Al Samooni
Kamal Al Samooni is 45 years old, he lives in the Al Zaytoun neighbourhood. He came to the hospital so that his cousin could get his kidney treated. 15 members of his extended family have been killed during the attacks and some members remain under the rubble.

"Shelling from a tank destroyed my bedroom, thank god that we decided to sleep in the living room, there were no injuries.

"The three hour truce is a lie to the world, the Israeli Government is trying to convince the world that this is humane, how can it be when they have bombed civilians' homes and schools?'

"We don't need a three hour truce, we need an immediate unconditional cease-fire, to have our human rights upheld and to have this blockade stopped. There are many of my dead relatives' bodies under the destruction the Israeli military has caused, we contacted the Red Crescent for help, and they told us that the Israeli army is denying them access to the area."

Um Ayman
Um Ayman is 53 years old, she lives in the north of Gaza City.

"I am here [at the hospital] to visit my niece who is 21 years old and her family from Beit Lahyia. They have all got third degree burns to their bodies as a result of an Israeli tank shell.

"My son in law was killed, north of Gaza, now my daughter and her two sons are staying with us.

"A three hour truce is nothing. Three hours... this is all talk and no action, three hours means nothing to us."

Widespread shortages
As I leave the hospital I pass by a nearby petrol station. It stands empty having been closed for more than two weeks. It's a stark reminder of the shortages of fuel, benezene, diesel and gasoline that the people in Gaza are facing...