“I didn’t feel the joy of my baby’s arrival. Instead, I feel pity for him and the conditions he was born into. What did this child do to come into the world without a comfortable, warm bed or even sufficient milk?” Isra’a is the mother of little Joud who was born to her while she, her husband and two-year-old daughter Randa, were sheltering in an UNRWA school in the Nuseirat Palestine Refugee camp in Gaza after they fled the north. With the school-turned-shelter full to the brim, the family are forced to live in the stairwell in appalling sanitary conditions.
“Every mother knows all too well the pains and exhaustion that follow childbirth, and they understand the need for a private space, a clean and hygienic environment, a personal bathroom, and access to proper clothing and sanitary supplies. But I currently lack all these necessities,” says Isra’a.
The struggle for proper care is confirmed by Suma, an UNRWA worker at the Nuseirat shelter: “We haven’t received anything specifically for pregnant women. I collect cleaning materials from the packages we receive and distribute them to pregnant women, patients, the elderly, and people with a disability to ensure cleanliness.” She continues, “We haven’t received newborn diapers for a whole month. Since the start of the war, we received a single package of diapers from UNICEF. I divided it, added cleaning materials, and gave it to the mothers.”
Adding to the difficulties of Israa’s family is little Randa’s medical condition. Randa lives with esophageal stenosis which makes regular food intake impossible. “My daughter Randa can only consume liquid food due to her health condition, and she is now suffering and deteriorating because suitable food is not available,” says Isra’a.
Isra’a and Randa are among the nearly 1.9 million Palestinians, including Palestine Refugees, displaced across the Gaza Strip, many of them multiple times. As they flee, their health concerns follow, mostly without proper treatment.
Patients in the UNRWA school-turned-shelter in Nuseirat Camp also include Maha and little Hamdan.
Maha, a mother of seven, has been battling breast, armpit, and uterine cancer for nearly two years. Her husband is also ill and visually impaired, adding to the challenges the family face. Since the beginning of the war, they have relied entirely on assistance provided by UNRWA. However, there has been a severe lack of medical supplies, including even basic pain relievers. Maha, 39, who experiences excruciating pain in her pelvic area and hip bones, is unable to find any relief. Her doctor is in Khan Younis, which is inaccessible due to the ongoing hostilities, leaving Maha alone to deal with her illness and the pain.
Hamdan is a four-year-old boy with colostomy who is also sheltering in the UNRWA school in Nuseirat camp after being displaced with his family. His condition requires daily changing of the colostomy bag and plenty of clean drinking water. The proper care he requires is simply not available in the shelter.
“I don’t have the resources, and it saddens me to witness the suffering of the displaced individuals,” says Suma, the UNRWA worker who is eager to provide whatever help she can. “We have children who require expensive and unavailable treatments. Their mothers are living in agony, and all we can provide are diapers, mineral water, and biscuits as nutrition, which is also insufficient. We’re talking about biscuits per child every week to ten days.” She adds, “We have thalassemia and kidney patients, as well. We coordinated with a hospital for blood transfusions, and I’m glad that we were able to do that. We have children with cerebral palsy who are living in tents without blankets or mattresses to sleep on and clean water to drink,” she continues.
Isra’a, Maha and Hamdan’s stories highlight the desperate conditions facing internally displaced persons with health-care concerns in the Gaza Strip. Only a humanitarian ceasefire and adequate and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian supplies, including medicines, can provide them with the treatment and relief they require and deserve.
