A displaced Palestinian family has described their struggle after being displaced from their home in northern Gaza and forced to live in a tent in a refugee camp to the south.
The 10-person Abu Jarad family fled their three-bedroom home in northern Gaza after the war broke out nearly three months ago.
They are now forced to squeeze in a 16sqm tent on a rubbish-strewn sandy plot in the Mawasi refugee camp – declared a safe zone by Israel despite reports to the contrary.
At night “dogs are hovering over the tents”, said Awatif Abu Jarad, an older member of the family.
“We are living like dogs,” he added.
Nouman, Awatif’s brother, said the conflict drove the family the entire length of Gaza.
They fled their home in the northern border town of Beit Hanoun on the first day of the war and stayed with a relative in the nearby town of Beit Lahia.
Six days later, the intensity of Israeli strikes in the border area sent them south to al Quds Hospital in Gaza City. They then traveled to the Nuseirat urban refugee camp in central Gaza, making the 10km journey on foot.
They stayed there for two months, before heading to Muwasi on 23 December.
The family also told Associated Press that the cost of food and water had skyrocketed, with some people queueing for water just joining the line in order to sell their place later to others.
After enduring the daily struggle to get water, family members move between several open markets to hunt for vegetables, flour and canned food for that evening’s meal.
The UN had said more than 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced by the war, with many fleeing for the third or fourth time.
