On October 7, 2023, some 1,200 people were killed in unprecedented attacks by Hamas against Israel, and 251 hostages were taken prisoner in Gaza. This Black Saturday will go down in history as the worst massacre perpetrated against Israelis since the Second World War.
October 7 also resonates as a disastrous date for what it will trigger as reprisals by the Hebrew State against the civilians of the Gaza Strip, causing the death of nearly 42,000 people in one year and dragging an entire region into conflict. war like never before since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
For the people of Gaza, it is also the beginning of displacement, of a life that fits in a suitcase and of exile to Egypt for around 120,000 of them.
Duty went there to meet those who have found refuge in the greater Cairo region over the past year. They told us the memories of a day that turned the history of their rectangle of land into darkness.
A very mixed feeling
An engineer specializing in water treatment, Ahmed Azzam worked in Gaza for the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNWRA). He lived in Khan Younes, in a house that he himself had designed and built.
“Early in the morning of October 7, my daughters were getting ready for school, putting on their uniforms as usual. I wasn’t working that day because I work Monday to Friday. [dans les pays musulmans, on travaille souvent du dimanche au jeudi]. »
“Suddenly, I hear then I see rockets launched towards Israeli settlements in the east, that was the start of everything. I turned on the television. »
“This is the first time that the Palestinians actually attacked Israel. I’m not from Hamas, but what we saw was unique, the videos, the images of Israel destabilized, affected within itself… We knew that the response was going to be terrible. I had very mixed feelings, because I am against anything that can cause civilian casualties. »
“There is nothing surprising about what happened on October 7. You put people in prison, what do you expect? »
Israel was not going to spare civilians
An independent IT developer, Ahmed Badah had clients all over the world, including in Canada.
“I woke up at 7 a.m. that morning. I saw cars passing by going to attack Israel. I knew what was going to happen. I just thought, “We’re fucked.” »
“I told my clients that they would now have to work with other people, because I was not sure I would be able to finish the mandates I had in progress. And then I knew that Israel was not going to spare civilians. »
“I knew that soon we would run out of water, food and medicine. But no electricity, because I had solar panels installed on the roof of my house built five years before the start of the war. »
“The next day, October 8, I learned that my uncle Nabil, who had been working in Israel for several years, was arrested and imprisoned for no apparent reason, even though he had nothing to do with Hamas. He will remain in prison for three months. »
I sent all my papers on PDF to my daughter in Egypt
A project coordinator for Islamic Relief Worldwide, Lina left Gaza in February with her family to join her daughter in Egypt.
“At first, I thought it was a storm, with lightning in the sky. I called my husband, he was at the gym. He told me about bombings. Then he joined me and we turned on the television. »
“We felt a sense of liberation. We were happy to see that something was happening, that the Palestinians were attacking Israel. Then very quickly, we asked ourselves the question: “Yes, but after? How will Israel react?” »
“From the first moment, we planned to leave. We were ready, the bags were packed. In addition, we knew that our house was in a dangerous area, which had already been bombed in 2021. I also sent all my papers in PDF to my daughter in Egypt. »
We knew we had to leave
Student, Kareem is the son of Lina and Jamel. On October 7, he was at home in Gaza, with his younger sister and his parents.
“I woke up to the sound of rockets. I was shocked, I didn’t believe it. I spoke with my father, and we understood very quickly that we would have to leave Gaza. We knew that it wasn’t going to be like all the other attacks I had experienced before: 2021, 2014, 2012, 2008… it wasn’t the same thing. My father told us it would last for months, if not longer. »
“The first day, we knew we had to leave. »
It brought the Jews back to the status of martyrs
A retired police officer, Amjad now lives in a modest apartment in Nasr City, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Cairo, with his family.
“At first, people living in Gaza didn’t understand what was happening because there were no warning signs. They thought that someone important had been murdered and that was why there was an attack. It was by watching television that they understood who was attacking who and why. »
“I am against the Hamas attacks of October 7, in particular because it returned the Jews to the status of martyrs, as after the Holocaust. »
The worst is yet to come
Rana is Amjad’s wife. She worked as a civil servant in the Gaza Media Ministry.
“I had a feeling it wouldn’t end well. I thought the worst was yet to come. The fact that Hamas fighters returned to Israel unopposed foreshadowed what was to come next: a catastrophe. »