How much destruction is enough?

Today we had a very sad ending to a long day because we learnt that the US vetoed the resolution at the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Let’s go back and see what happened during the day. I woke up to the sound of loud and excited voices in the building and I wasn’t sure what was going on. It turned out that the host family were trying to make bread using a new method. We have what we call an Egyptian oven and it’s usually metallic used with gas. It’s made of two different layers – in the middle of the two layers there’s a fire that that goes below or above the food depending if you use the upper or lower layer – you can see it in the picture. This oven is not usually used for making bread but more for pastries, sweets and cookies,  however, because there are so many people staying in all three storeys of this building they decided to try it out and see if it could make some bread. 

       

Instead of using gas they had to use a lot of coal and carton, and so there was a lot of smoke. By the end, they managed to make quite a lot of bread as they had somehow got flour from a displaced family staying with us. The bread actually turned out pretty good! After this exciting moment in the day I was sitting together with my relatives and I heard the very sad news about the destruction of Al-Omari Mosque in Gaza City. This is a historical mosque that was built more than 1000 years ago. Many parts of it are now destroyed. It was a beautiful place - whenever we had a tourist or an international visiting Gaza, we always took him or her to that mosque. It has a historical value in the Islamic history. We were very proud of it and we liked it so much. 

Also there was bombing all around throughout the day. I was observing how the children react to the war and the sounds of bombardment and others. They flinch when they hear these loud explosions, and then many of them shout and scream. Later they become hyperactive and you wouldn’t even know what to do with to help them to calm down. When this happens I feel sympathy with both the children and the adults. Even if parents let them play in the garden to get some of their energy out, they continue shouting loudly, while the parents and adults need to  sleep.

Life is becoming harder and harder and things are very tight. Still the journey to find liquid milk for babies and children is ongoing. When we actually find liquid milk for our nephew like yesterday, it’s kind of like finding treasure – we treasure it and we keep it as long as possible for him. It’s strange because children are not aware of certain things. They can talk the adults’ language like they will say things like “there’s bombing, there’s fire – this is the sound of an F16”, but still if they don’t receive basic things like milk or food like eggs they find it weird and they don’t understand why it’s not possible to get those things. 

Going back to the US decision to veto the ceasefire - this is one of the worst things that could happen to the civilians here because everyone is eager to go back to normal life, but instead of that we will continue to face bombardments and airstrikes. Yesterday I heard that one of the families that I know very well in Khan Younis had 5 martyrs and it took me some time to verify and check that the people I know in the family are safe and alive. And even though I heard that they are alive and safe, there are another 5 people that were killed yesterday whom I do not know very well but well-known to other people who will be devastated by the news.

I just don’t understand what more they want of us – how much more destruction can be done to Gaza? Not only have they killed thousands of people and destroyed their homes, but we’ve lost all our cultural places and they’ve destroyed all the popular restaurants. All the most important streets that we used and were happy with and were starting to give Gazans a breath of fresh air are gone. For example I used to walk three times a week by Gaza beach in the morning when it was still dark and by the time it was light I’d be done with my walk – not just me, there were so many people who did this. Now that is also gone and it won’t be possible to walk there anymore because it’s all covered in sand from what I see and hear in the news – of course I haven’t had the chance to go back and see myself.

What more destruction does it require Israel to stop this war and let the civilians get back to their lives? What more do they want? How many civilians need to be killed? How many more massacres are required in order for them to leave the civilians in peace? They keep saying this is a war against Hamas – no, this is a war against every civilian in Gaza. I believe it’s a way to get us to emigrate and leave our land here. What they are doing now is making it an impossible place to live in, which was already the case before the war, but now of course even more so. They want the people to leave and go away. 

It’s clear that there’s a growing international call for a ceasefire and we are looking forward to that, because the impact of what’s going on is huge on civilians like us. I know many people who lost their lives, some of them I mentioned in my diaries, some of them I haven’t even mentioned.  The host family I’m staying with also knows many people who died. How it is going to end? It's already devastated us.