One year of endless displacement and loss: the heartbreaking struggle of Gaza’s “Umm Ashraf”

Published

10 October 2024

The war in Gaza has been raging for almost a year now, sparing no one, regardless of age. For older people, the past 12 months have been particularly painful. Forced from their homes, grappling with illness, and suffering one displacement after the other, their plight is often overlooked in the broader narrative of conflict.

Fatima Shahda, or “Umm Ashraf,” is 82 years old. Despite her frail health, she has been forcibly displaced multiple times in the past year: from her hometown of Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, to Gaza City, then to tents in Rafah, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, and al-Zawayda. Finally, to the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza where she lives in a tent with one of her sons.

Before and during the war

Umm Ashraf describes her life in the past year as an “arduous journey of displacement and suffering” that separated her from her children, who are now scattered across Gaza after their homes were destroyed in Khan Younis.

Before the war, Umm Ashraf lived in her family home in Beit Lahia with her sons, daughters and grandchildren. She would gather them around her every day and share stories about their grandfather while reminiscing about the past. Those moments are now gone, and displacement has torn her family apart. Some of her children have remained in the north, while others have fled to Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in the south of the Gaza strip.

Life is nothing like it was before the war. Everything used to be sweet and easy. I was always surrounded by my family. Now, everyone is scattered. I used to have a wardrobe full of clothes. Now, I only have two outfits. Everything in my house in the north is gone, even our clothes.

Umm Ashraf

Umm Ashraf, who raised 11 children on her own after her husband’s death, used to see every one of them daily, each visiting at different times according to their work schedules. Not a day passed without one of her children checking in on her. Even her daughter, who lives abroad with her husband, would call her every day. But now, with poor communications and the lack of internet in displacement camps, they have not spoken for nearly eight months.

During the war, Umm Ashraf, like many older people in Gaza, struggled to find medication for her chronic illnesses, including high blood pressure and diabetes. Before the war, her medications were delivered directly to her home. “We used to get my mother’s medication without her even needing to leave the house,” her son says. “Now, we visit every hospital and pharmacy in town, and still can’t find her medication, even if we have money.”

One year on, Gaza’s healthcare system has almost entirely collapsed. The Israeli Defence Force has targeted hospitals, medical centres, and clinics, and has blocked the entry of essential medications and medical supplies.

Umm Ashraf with her grandchildren.

Fatima’s wish

Umm Ashraf reminisces about her brother Aouni, as well as neighbours and friends back home, all of whom she lost during the war.

We are tired from the bombings, death, destruction, and constant fear. We just want to go back to our homes, to our lives before the war, and live out the rest of our days in peace and security. My only wish is for the war to end and for God to protect our people.

Umm Ashraf

Our humanitarian efforts in Gaza

Older people of Gaza are in desperate need of humanitarian support.

Numbering approximately 111,500, older people in Gaza face severe risks amid the ongoing conflict, including hunger, dehydration, illness, injury, and death.

The lack of adequate emergency shelters exacerbates their difficulties, particularly for those managing chronic health issues or disabilities. Women of all ages are at increased risk of violence and abuse.