Despite the fear and the “catastrophic” conditions, Ziad Medoukh “holds on”. The Palestinian father chose to stay at home in Gaza to “resist the occupation”.
“If tomorrow I leave my house, the day after tomorrow I will leave Gaza, the day after tomorrow I will leave Palestine. Like this, I will be humiliated for the rest of my life. […] We prefer to die on our feet, at home, than to go and die elsewhere,” he confides in an interview with THE Duty.
Preparing to “crush” Hamas, the Israeli government on Friday ordered residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move south. But the French professor at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza categorically refuses to leave his hometown and participate “in a new Nakba » — the forced exile of Palestinians upon the proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948. “I am a human being. There is fear, anxiety […]but it’s part of my way of resisting the occupation,” he explains.
His wife and five children were evacuated to the south on Sunday. “My family was able to resist with me for a week, but after that, I cannot save human beings. […] I can’t do anything, I’m helpless, like all Palestinian families. »
The Gazan, who has experienced several “major offensives”, says that this is the “first time” that he has witnessed such a “harsh bombardment”, and urges the international community to put an end to it.
Israeli retaliatory strikes killed around 3,000 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly Palestinian civilians, according to Hamas. “With high technology and American aid, not distinguishing between civilians and combatants is serious,” laments Mr. Medoukh. I’m not asking anyone to be pro-Palestinian. I ask people to be pro-justice. »
Helping each other in distress
In the south, hundreds of displaced people have taken refuge with residents, but live crowded in the same houses, “in very difficult health and humanitarian conditions”, says the 57-year-old man, after being interrupted by eight bombings. . “It’s daily life under the bombs in Gaza,” he comments before continuing the interview.
Israel has cut off water, electricity and food supplies to the small territory controlled by Hamas. “Nothing is entering Gaza. Neither the medicine nor the water. […] We are facing a catastrophic humanitarian situation. »
The situation is also difficult in the north, where the center of Hamas operations is located, according to Israel. “It’s hard to describe. […] The reality is harsh,” breathes Mr. Medoukh, saying he sees “thousands of people crowded together” near his home, without mattresses or blankets.
Having his home as his only shelter, the professor only goes out twice a week to buy provisions. The stores that were a few hundred meters from his home are closed, or destroyed, he says, saying that he now has to “walk a kilometer”.
Despite the widespread power cut, associations and friends of Gazans have solar panels. He therefore takes advantage of his outings to recharge his portable battery, which will allow him to use his phone for four additional hours. Between them, the thirty residents who remained in their neighborhood — out of a total of 250 — also share their meals, to help each other.
Any form of resistance
Since the unprecedented attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7, the Jewish state has declared war on the Palestinian Islamist movement. But “we must distinguish Hamas as a political party […] and the population”, nuance Ziad Medoukh, calling for elections “so that the Palestinian people freely choose their representatives”.
He believes that Hamas has become stronger after each Israeli offensive aimed at crushing it. “When we woke up, we, the civilian population, found this faction more powerful than before. […] Their objective [celui d’ Israël]is to sow terror […], to crush the popular will. »
“In shock” at the Israeli response, Mr. Medoukh said that the Palestinian population does not yet believe what happened in Israel. “There are videos circulating, but until now, we don’t believe them,” he says, saying he was taken by surprise on Saturday, without being able to find out more about the events.
By entering Israel by surprise 11 days ago, Hamas killed more than 1,400 people and kidnapped 199 others, according to the most recent Israeli toll. An attack documented and widely condemned internationally. But Mr. Medoukh says the Palestinians have so far “not had time to verify what happened.” “We are saving the lives of our children. […] We are overwhelmed,” he said, hoping that checks will be carried out after the war.
According to the Gazan professor, the solution will “never be military”. But all forms of resistance must be appreciated, as long as they achieve “peace and liberation”. “I am against the war. But personally, I can’t criticize others. […] Everyone resists in their own way. »
Mr. Medoukh instead believes in an “alternative plan.” It’s democracy, it’s freedom, it’s openness to the world. This is our mission, even if it is difficult, in a context of division in Palestine, in a context of occupation, to remain standing.”
With Agence France-Presse
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.