A “world that has stopped”, a “year of suffering”: amid the ruins, residents of the Gaza Strip express their despair, one year to the day after the unprecedented attack against Israel launched by Hamas from their territory, still prey to war.
“Last night, we spent it terrorized by the shots of the quadcopters [des drones militaires] and tanks,” says Khaled al-Hawajri, 46, who says he has been displaced ten times since the start of Israel’s offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement.
As Israeli troops once again surround the Jabalia refugee camp, in the north of the besieged and devastated territory, this father has the impression of reliving “the first day of the war”.
The army says it is carrying out a new operation in this area in view of “Hamas’ efforts” to “rebuild its operational capabilities”.
After the night’s fighting, Mr. Hawajri left Jabalia to reach Gaza City. He describes “the fear in the heart of [ses] children “.
The streets, covered with debris and sand, with broken sidewalks, pass between buildings reduced to piles of rubble, or gutted.
“When I walk in the streets, I no longer recognize them,” Hussam Mansour, 64, whose building was destroyed by an airstrike, told AFP. He claims to have difficulty finding food in this territory described as on the verge of famine by the UN.
Nowhere safe
Due to a lack of fuel, which is rare and overpriced, the potholed roads are mainly traveled by pedestrians and carts pulled by donkeys. The few cars that pass often carry displaced people loaded with bags and cans of water.
Around 90% of the population has been displaced at least once, according to the United Nations. On Monday, the Israeli army again issued new evacuation orders for the neighborhoods surrounding Jabalia.
And the human toll continues to rise, with 41,909 Palestinians killed in the Israeli military campaign so far, the majority civilians, according to data from the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN. .
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, after the latter’s unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023, which led to the death of 1,206 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to a count of AFP based on official Israeli figures and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Of the 251 people taken as hostages, 97 remain detained in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli army.
“I never imagined that the war would last this long,” says Mohammed al-Muqayyid, 46, who also left Jabalia to escape the fighting, but believes that he will not be safe anywhere in the Gaza Strip. .
“No one can imagine”
“A year has passed, full of suffering, illness, hunger, danger and loss, and we continue to suffer,” he continues. “We wonder how much longer this can last. »
After a year of operations, Israel has still not achieved its objectives of ensuring the return of the hostages and putting an end to Hamas.
Again on Monday, when the country was paying tribute to the victims of October 7, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for firing salvos of rockets on Tel Aviv, where the warning sirens went off. sounded again.
“We expected events like this today,” said Samah Ali, 32. “Everyone in the camp came out to see where the rockets were coming from, but now people are evacuating for fear of an Israeli response,” adds this woman, displaced in Deir el-Balah, in the center of the strip. from Gaza.
“We have the feeling that the world stopped” a year ago, testifies Israa Abou Matar, 26, in the same city, where she is also displaced. “I am growing old seeing my children hungry, scared, having nightmares and screaming day and night because of the noise of the bombings. »
Ola Halilou, 32, says she is “exhausted”, not only by the bombings, but also by hunger, illness and psychological distress.
“No one can imagine what we went through and how we are still standing today,” she notes. “Which leaves everyone asking the same questions: What kind of human beings are the people of Gaza? »