Aid trickles into Gaza but fails to meet needs of displaced families
Since Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire last month, aid has started entering Gaza but still falls short of what is needed. At a distribution site in Khan Younis, Palestinians receive supplies of rice, canned beans and oil, but many leave empty-handed.
Those who managed to receive the parcel say it is not enough to feed their families.
“We received this box of aid, but it’s not enough to feed us. Our basic needs exceed what this parcel has to offer,” said Nermeen Tramsi, a displaced woman from Gaza City. “If you compare this to the aid coming in, it’s nothing. A family needs more than just beans and rice.”
Ziad Abu al-Jazar, a displaced man from Rafah, says he has seen hundreds of trucks crossing day and night, but he has not received any aid.
“Since the ceasefire started, we saw nothing. No organisation distributed aid to us. We want to know where these trucks went,” he said.
Probably commercial trucks, selling food at exorbitant prices while most people have no access to money.
Gaza hospitals struggle to care for thousands of critically ill patients
Thousands of Palestinian patients – many of them children – are trapped in hospitals that can no longer provide the care they need. With borders closed and medical evacuations suspended, even treatable illnesses are turning into life-threatening conditions.
At al-Aqsa Hospital in the heart of Gaza, Beesan Abu Ameer waits for answers that seem like they will never come. Doctors have yet to diagnose her illness. Her mother says she needs urgent tests, but the hospitals in the Strip no longer have the equipment.
“They don’t know the real problem because there’s no proper equipment,” her mother said. “I took her to many hospitals for the right diagnosis, but it’s all in vain. Now she’s suffering and has no medication.”
Across the ward lies Waleed, who is 13. He was suddenly paralysed – diagnosed with a rare disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks its nerves.
“Waleed has weak muscle syndrome. He was normal until July 17 when Israelis threw poisonous gas near the beach where he was,” his mother said. “He started suffering from paralysis in his limbs. Then it got worse until he lost movement and the ability to speak.”
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza, said at least 15,000 patients, including nearly 4,000 children, are waiting to be evacuated out of Gaza to receive life-saving care. “For months, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been closed,” Khoudary said. “Israel says it will not reopen it until Hamas returns the bodies of dead Israeli captives under the terms of the ceasefire deal.”
Rebuilding Gaza begins in the classroom
It has been two weeks since world leaders gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh and declared, once again, that the path to peace in the Middle East had been found. As with previous such declarations, the Palestinians, the people who must live that peace, were left out.
The idea of reconstruction is dangled before the residents of Gaza. Those who call for it from abroad seem to envision just clearing rubble, pouring concrete, and rehabilitating infrastructure. There is no talk of rebuilding people – restoring their institutions, dignity, and sense of belonging.
But this is what Palestinians need. True reconstruction must focus on the people of Gaza and it must begin not with cement but with the restoration of classrooms and learning.
It must begin with young people who have survived the unthinkable and still dare to dream. Without them – without Palestinian educators and students at the centre – no rebuilding effort can endure.
