From his crowded makeshift tent, made from donated plastic sheeting, Fahed Abu El Khair told CBS News that this was not the life he ever dreamed of for his family.
Once comfortably middle class, they now live in an overcrowded camp in Gaza City, south of Gaza. Rafahjust steps from the towering lights of the Egyptian border.
“My family has six people,” explains Abu El Khair. “My wife and my children…and the way we live is not a life.”
Before Hamas attacks on October 7, a father of four, was one of the few Palestinians in Gaza who was able to obtain a rare permit to work in Israel. But since Israel launched its retaliatory assaultAbu El Khair had to move his family four times to survive.
“All we have now is a few cups, a plate and a pot for cooking,” he said. “It’s barely enough for anyone to live with, let alone be able to feed our children.”
CBS Mornings
In the days immediately following the October 7 Hamas attacks, Israel effectively sealed the Gaza Strip removing most food, water and medications.
Nearly six months later, international aid agencies More than a million people – half of Gaza’s population – are said to be currently facing famine. In March, at least twenty-seven children were reported die of hunger in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory where, according to United Nations figures, up to a quarter of all children under 5 suffer from acute malnutrition.
In the south, where the Abu El Khair family is taking refuge, the other half of Gaza’s population will probably be live in famine by the end of spring, in what the UN calls a “reasonable worst-case scenario.”
Despite the immense difficulties, the Abu El Khair family did not lose faith. Ramadan and fasting is special to them, and so before beginning their day of abstaining from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, they gather for a pre-dawn meal. All they have to eat are a few pieces of bread and some sweet sesame paste – a meal enough for one person, but not enough for a family.
While fasting, Abu El Khair cannot rest. He must spend his day searching for food for his family in one of the few remaining markets in Gaza. But as he walks from stall to stall, he can barely afford anything. Costs have skyrocketed in southern Gaza. Even a small bunch of green onions had to be bargained for.
Before the war, around 500 trucks entered Gaza daily carrying food and other goods as well as international aid. Nearly six months after the start of the Israeli assault, this figure has increased. fell by 80 percent, according to humanitarian groups. The Israeli military says its denial of certain shipments and extensive checks on aid trucks are aimed at preventing Hamas from smuggling in weapons and supplies.
The Abu El Khair family had to find other ways to survive. Abu El Khair’s wife Fahima built a wood-fired oven inside their tent to try to earn some money selling bread, but the money doesn’t go far.
“Even if I work all day, all I can afford is a few tomatoes or an eggplant,” she said. Even with the help of his daughter, it’s a struggle.
“We can only make bread over an open fire,” Fahima said. “But I feel like our whole life is in flames.”
Breaking their fast was not a simple process either. Preparing a meal traditionally served at sunset was made difficult by the need to prepare it on the floor of a tent. More than an hour after sunset, the meal was finally ready.
“We live in a tent set up on the sand. We eat food that, as you can see, we can barely cook,” said Abou El Khair. “We live only by the mercy of God.”
Imtiaz Tyab
Grub5
