We live second by second, and we count these seconds. We can’t sleep. In the morning we have to get some kind of food for our children, and some water, says Amjad Shawa.
Amjad Shawa is the director of the Palestinian NGO Network. He and his family have been on the run for more than three weeks.
Photo: Palestinian NGO Network
On October 7, his family left their home and fled to southern Gaza.
He tells of his 75-year-old neighbor who is said to have died because no one could help him escape.
To date, more than 8,000 people have been killed in Gaza.
– I never imagined in my life that I would end up in such a situation. To be so afraid. Scared for my family, friends, and my own life. Having to work hard to get a bottle of water and struggle to get some food.
According to the United Nations agency UNRWA, more than 80 trucks loaded with emergency aid entered the Gaza Strip within one week.
In order to meet the needs of 2.3 million people, UNRWA estimates that 100 trucks are needed per day.
The Israel Defense Forces began an escalation of the war over the weekend. This Israeli tank was photographed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Photograph: Evelyn Hochstein/Reuters
Hours in line to no avail
The Israeli authorities asked the Palestinians to evacuate to cities such as Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. There, too, buildings were razed to the ground after bombing and missile attacks.
Hundreds of people lined up on Sunday to get bread and water in the town of Khan Yunis.
Photography: Ahmed Abu Kamil/NRK
The ticket was taken from there by the local reporting team who were contacted by NRK again on Sunday.
– I’m here to buy bread. I waited for three hours to no avail, because I didn’t get anything. We haven’t eaten anything for two days, says Hala Abu Al-Amrain.
Adam Zourub lives in Khan Yunis. The city includes one of the largest Palestinian refugee camps.
Photography: Ahmed Abu Kamil/NRK
Around her were her children – and hundreds of people who all had the same mission: to get some very small amounts of food.
Elsewhere in the city, Adam Zorub stands in line to get water.
– He says that the water supply that was previously available has been cut off.
Now he, along with hundreds of others, must lie down on a municipal well to obtain the vital fluid.
On Sunday, Israel will reopen the water pipeline from Israel to Gaza, Haaretz reported. After the Hamas attack, Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza and cut off all imports of water, food, medicine and fuel.
Fears of societal collapse
After the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, Israel responded to the Gaza Strip. It has led to a shutdown 640,000 internally displaced peopleAccording to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA).
The United Nations UNRWA organizes emergency aid for the residents of the Gaza Strip. They estimate the daily need for aid at 100 trucks loaded with food, drink and medicine.
Photography: Mahmoud Hams/Agence France-Presse
Over the weekend, thousands of people stormed several United Nations warehouses and distribution centers.
Wheat flour and other basic products were also stolen from buildings located in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
– This is a worrying sign that public order is beginning to collapse after three weeks of war and siege. People are afraid, frustrated and desperate, write the organization in ei press release.
Ibrahim Abu Zarifa calls for providing humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip.
Photography: Ahmed Abu Kamil/NRK
-I’ve been standing here since the early hours of the day to get bread. This is not life. Where is the help from Arab and European countries? No one sees us, says Ibrahim Abu Zarifa.
UNRWA fears that fear, frustration and despair will have dire consequences inside Gaza.
– They feel left to themselves. “They are isolated from their families inside the Gaza Strip and the rest of the world,” says director Thomas White.
Several trucks pass through the border
On Sunday, 33 trucks loaded with emergency aid passed through the Rafah border crossing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wael Abu Omar told the Associated Press.
Before the outbreak of war on October 7, according to the United Nations, an average of 500 truckloads of supplies were brought in daily.
After talks with leaders in Israel and Egypt on Sunday, US President Joe Biden requested a significant increase in emergency aid for Gaza.
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