After the shortages of water, electricity and gasoline, bread is running out in the Gaza Strip. Sulaf Abuwatfa took refuge almost three weeks ago in the south of the enclave with her mother, brother and sister. “We still have a little flour left, so we make our bread at home,” tells the Duty the 19-year-old young woman who now shares accommodation with 14 other people.
But once the reserves are exhausted, it is difficult to know what the family will do. “There are no more places where you can buy flour,” she says. Many bakeries were destroyed by Israeli bombing. And those that are still in office are stormed by lines that stretch for many hours.
“In addition to the fear of dying, we are afraid of hunger and thirst,” whispers the young woman. We no longer live like human beings. »
It was with relatives in the al-Nuseirat camp that Sulaf and his family found refuge after the Israeli army dropped leaflets by plane on Gaza City to encourage the population to take the road to the south of the Gaza Strip. ‘enclave.
“There are 14 of us in the accommodation with my uncles, my aunts, their children and my grandparents. There are about a hundred of us in the building,” while around thirty people generally live there.
Everything is missing
The young woman, who was studying interior design before the fire, says she has difficulty meeting her basic needs. “There’s not enough water, we hardly take a shower, we can’t flush the toilet too much. » To recharge small electronic devices, the family uses solar panels. And the food is used preciously. “We try to save what we have as much as possible. »
At night, bombings sometimes wake them up with a start. “Once, a mosque near our house was bombed and the windows of our building were shattered. » To distract themselves, his brother and sister, aged 10 and 13, still sometimes play with the neighbors. “But most of the time, my mother wants to keep them close to her. »
We no longer live like human beings
If Sulaf has the chance, she would like to leave Gaza, whose father and older brother live in the United Arab Emirates. “But at the moment, it’s just foreigners who manage to get out,” she laments. “I had a bright future,” she emphasizes. I wanted to travel, I had a lot of dreams, but now all my dreams are buried in Gaza. »
Even if she says she remains hopeful that she will be able to emerge from this hell alive, Sulaf recalls that Israel “cannot finish Hamas without finishing us” since Hamas fighters “live among us”.
Document tirelessly
In the last hours, the Israeli army has intensified its strikes on Gaza City, now surrounded by Israeli tanks. “My father and mother are in Gaza. They were very scared last night,” reports Mohammed Zaanoun, who speaks of hundreds of bombings carried out in the space of a few hours.
For a month now, this 37-year-old photojournalist has tirelessly documented Israel’s response to Hamas attacks. He himself had to leave Gaza City after his house was destroyed. “I found refuge with my wife and my two children with my uncle in Rafah”, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
There was nothing he didn’t see, says the man whose photos were published in the newspaper. The Guardian and on the CNN website. Bombings, explosions, deaths, blood, shattered lives and so much distress. About ten days ago, Mr. Zaanoun went to Salah Al Deen Street, in Gaza City, where several buildings had just been bombed.
“A man told me that members of his family have sent him messages to tell him that they are under the rubble,” he explains. I heard people shouting “Help”, but we were unable to help them. It was excruciating. And they are still under the rubble ten days later. »
Last weekend, the photojournalist was documenting the dramas playing out at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes with his fellow cameraman Mohammed Alaloul, who works for the Turkish news agency Anadolu, when the latter learned that four of his children had just lost their lives. “I went with him to see his children [décédés]. It was very difficult. He told me: “I am no longer alive now”. »
Like so many others, Mohammed Zaanoun lives with the constant anxiety of receiving such news. “You never know what might happen in the next hour. And meanwhile, the whole world watches what is happening in Gaza without doing anything. »