A Mother of Four's Survival in Gaza

  This account is from a mother of four who lives in Gaza. She is one of the most extraordinary people whom I have ever had the privilege of getting to know. She has cared for her children and kept them safe through years of turmoil; they have been displaced multiple times and live under frequent bombardment and fire from the Israeli military. Food, water, and medicine are scarce due to the blockade, and they are living in a tent with little protection from the elements.

Despite the terrible conditions, she is one of the kindest people I have ever met. She has many qualities and values that I wish I could emulate, and I wish the world had more people like her.

I want to begin with what she has told me about her family and the losses she has suffered during the conflict. The following are her exact words; the only edits are for grammar and clarity, as English is not her first language and she uses a translator to communicate with me.

“The most important thing is family. I’ve been displaced from place to place and exposed to dangers in order to protect my family. I lost many family members in the war.”

“My uncle’s house was bombed over his head, and he, his children, and his wife were all torn to pieces. Only his eldest son survived; he was outside the house. His only crime was being a university professor; they don’t want any educated people here.”

The detail where she mentions that her uncle was targeted due to being a university professor is significant. Many genocides throughout history have targeted educated people or educators. Regimes and other groups seeking to control a population tend to want to remove people who share ideas and can challenge those in power. A society that lacks education can be easier to manipulate and control. One of the most notable examples is the Cambodian genocide, orchestrated by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, during which educated people and intellectuals were among those targeted.^1

There is still doubt among many over whether what is happening in Palestine is truly a genocide or not, and each piece of evidence, such as an educator being targeted, is a small part of the larger case for examining the State of Israel's actions in Palestine.

Her uncle was not the only family member she lost.

“I also lost three of my cousins, young men aged 20, 17, and 30, and my maternal cousins as well; they were among the best people.”

The loss of her family is only one part of what she has endured. She and her children also live with the constant possibility that they could become the next victims.

“Tonight we went to sleep to the sounds of heavy shelling and woke up to find children torn to pieces and women burned by the bombing. We live in daily terror. I fear for my children and constantly imagine that we will be bombed.”

These are feelings and thoughts that I cannot comprehend, and I imagine most readers cannot either. I have tried to imagine and put myself in these situations, but I cannot fully understand and likely never will. I think about how every day, when she and others hear a fighter jet or a drone fly overhead, they wonder, “Will I be next?” 

In the United States, most citizens' understanding of war is not from a civilian perspective. The United States population at large does not know what it is like to be at war or suffer under war. When our military is sent to fight, yes, it is war, and it is terrible, but barring logistics failures, units get a break from the action. In Palestine, there is no break; there is no time to decompress. It is constant fear of death and war.

Death is ever-present, and the next bombing could be you.

That constant threat of death is made even worse by the lack of basic necessities.

“The constant bombing of homes means we are living in complete hell here, exposed to death at any moment. We even need medicine and can’t find it. Everything is expensive except our lives; they are incredibly cheap in Gaza.”

“We are still suffering from the flu; there are no suitable medications available here.”

In addition to the possibility of being the victim of a military strike, she and other Palestinians have to worry about the lack of medicine, food, and water due to the blockade that Israel has imposed on the region.

Throughout history, states and other groups responsible for genocide have used deprivation as a means of effectively killing whole populations. The Nazis did this during World War II. While millions were murdered in gas chambers and mass shootings, millions of others also died from starvation, disease, and other brutal conditions.^2

Supplies are scarce in Palestine, and reports about supplies pouring in are false or misleading; there is little to no humanitarian aid, and even during ceasefires, the bombardments and blockades have not stopped.

There is nowhere to run. She and her family have been pushed into tents, and most residential buildings are not structurally safe. They have been living like this for years, and there is no end in sight.

That lack of safe shelter led to another tragedy she shared with me.

“A residential building that had previously been bombed by the occupation was returned to by people despite the danger, because they had nowhere else to go. Suddenly, while they were sleeping the building collapsed on top of them.”

As the fall months arrived in 2026, I received this message from her informing me of this terrible tragedy. There was nowhere else for these families to go, and sleeping in tents was its own version of hell.

“We live in a tent, and flies, mosquitoes, and rodents eat us alive every day. My son couldn’t sleep last night because of the rats. They’re dangerously widespread, and we can’t get rid of them at all because of the rubble.”

Living in tents, they are subjected to dangerous heat during the summer, factoring in the risks of heat-related illness and death. In the winter, they face dangerous cold. Add in the mosquitoes and rodents, which can carry disease, and once again there is another risk that they have to deal with.

So one night, six families attempted to escape that hell and sleep in a residential building, and unfortunately, this was what happened.

“Six families still have people trapped under the rubble, and we do not know their fate.”

“There is not enough equipment to clear the rubble and reach them.”

I do not know their fates or if they were ever found. I did not want to ask because I have done my best not to pry. She is subjected to a situation and suffering that I cannot comprehend, and my policy has been to allow her to tell these stories at her own pace.

As for the equipment, once again Gaza has been decimated, so when these disasters strike, there is no one to help them. 

In the West, many pro-Israel messages say that the IDF is helping the people of Gaza and looking out for them. I ask those who believe that messaging: Does this look like helping?

Many who support the actions of the State of Israel have justified the conflict in Gaza as a war rather than a genocide. The point of them making this argument is so they can say that anything that happens in Palestine to the people of Palestine is justified due to the nature of war.

But there are still rules and guidelines for war. Even if what has transpired in Palestine were to be classified as a war, many of the actions by the IDF and the State of Israel would still be human rights violations.

The blockade, starvation, and other actions that affect the civilian population are all violations of international humanitarian law. Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that the occupying power has a duty to ensure food and medical supplies for the population.^3 Article 43 of the Hague Regulations also requires an occupying authority to take measures to restore and ensure public order and safety.^4

In essence, classifying the military action in Palestine as a war does not justify the conditions that the people of Palestine have been subjected to under Israeli occupation. International humanitarian law still applies during armed conflict, and civilians retain legal protections.

There are also many accounts of Israeli occupation forces directly targeting civilians, including children. My source has shared her own experiences and observations of these events.

“Sometimes children are simply flying kites, which are just toys and a simple way for them to experience a little joy in the middle of all this suffering, but in some cases the occupation sees them as a threat, and the children are targeted and bombed, sometimes leaving the child torn into pieces.”

“That is the most heartbreaking part: a child who should be busy playing and laughing can become the target of a bombing. Every day there are new people being killed, including children, women, and entire families.”

I shouldn’t need to quote international law for it to be known that targeting and killing children is evil. There is admittedly not much I can add for this section. If someone fails to see why killing children is abhorrent, then I ask: Where is their sense of humanity?

These individual accounts are part of a much larger scale of death and destruction in Palestine. Entire families have been lost, entire bloodlines ended, and Gaza, once a lively place filled with communities and families, has suffered enormous destruction, with many residents left displaced.

“This is the largest funeral in the history of the Palestinian cause. 112 martyrs from one family were buried today in Gaza.”

One day in August, my source informed me of a funeral in Gaza. It was 112 victims from one family who were finally recovered after being killed in 2023.

It took three years for them to be recovered and laid to rest. Even though I am aware of the scale of death, I still cannot comprehend the number of people who have been killed or what it means for 112 members of one family to be buried together.

After all of these stories of death, displacement, and fear, I want to return to the person at the center of this account: a mother who simply wants her children to be safe.

“I feel completely overwhelmed and trapped. I cry every day, and my children cry with me. We are not living a normal or dignified human life here. I just want to get my children somewhere safe, where they can sleep peacefully, eat properly and live without fear.”

She has lived like this and guided her family through this atrocity for years. In my eyes, she is one of the best and strongest people the human race has to offer. She wants a better life for her children. She wants safety. She wants to be able to live the life that so many in the world are able to have, but for her and other Palestinians, that life has been stolen from them by a billion-dollar war machine.

“We are tired; this life has exhausted us. We love peace, and it’s not our fault we have to live through this tragedy.”

All she wants is peace. She never asked for this to be her life.

Despite everything she has endured, she has relied heavily on her faith in God to pull through this conflict. Faith is a powerful thing, and for many of those facing this atrocity, they need something to pull them through and believe that everything will lead to something better.

Her faith is one of love, compassion, and hope for a better and more just world. She and many other Palestinians hold no hatred in their hearts. I wish the world would return that sentiment to them.

With that, I end this story with something she sent to me. I have long thought of this quote when I need comfort or when I am anxious. For those who have faith, regardless of what it is, I believe this quote and what it conveys is universal.

“Don’t worry, my friend, for God does not forget the ant in its hole, so how could he forget his servant whom he created?”

References

1. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Khmer Rouge Revolution,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/cambodia/khmer-rouge-revolution.

2. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “How Many People did the Nazis Murder?” Holocaust Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/documenting-numbers-of-victims-of-the-holocaust-and-nazi-persecution.

3. International Committee of the Red Cross, Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, August 12, 1949, art. 55.

4. International Committee of the Red Cross, Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, October 18, 1907, art. 43.