Olive farmer says a better part of the harvest wasted.
KHAN YUNIS
Carting heavy cans of water through muddy streets, searching mounds of rubble for clothes, mourning lost relatives and homes — Gazans reprieved from Israeli bombardment during the truce with Hamas were still facing the daily hardships of unrest.
At a water station in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, people filled plastic containers and lugged them to homes or shelters using carts pulled by donkeys or by hand, bicycles, a shopping trolley, a wheelbarrow, even a wheelchair.
“The struggle for water happens daily, since we were first displaced until now. Even during the ceasefire, they didn’t find a solution to the water problem,” said Rami al-Rizek, displaced with his family from their home in Gaza City.
“Whether there is a truce or not, we still have no electricity, no water, and none of life’s basic necessities,” said Muath Hamdan, another man waiting at the water station.
Olive farmer says a better part of harvest wasted
It had rained, and a steady stream of children and adults trudged through mud and puddles in sandals and flip-flops on their way to the water station. The quest for water was the main activity that could be seen on the streets.
In a different area of Khan Yunis, Maryam Abu Rjaileh had returned to her home, reduced to rubble by an Israeli air strike, to search for clothes for her children. The family are now sheltering at a school, in a classroom shared with many others.
“We see our homes getting destroyed, our dreams getting destroyed, we see the efforts we put into our homes all destroyed,” said Abu Rjaileh.
“How can I describe our situation? They gave us a four-day truce, what are these four days? We come here, feel sorry for ourselves and turn back.”
Another Khan Yunis resident, Ahmed al-Najjar, said of the truce: “Four days are not enough, and forty days are not enough, and four years will not be enough to get over the pain.”
