Gaza – Special to SafaCitizen Nuseiba Awkal owns nothing in her tent except a thin blanket, old and rusty kitchen utensils, some firewood that gets wet from time to time due to the rain, and the will of a woman that has turned into an army of patience and resistance.With every storm that hits the Gaza Strip, the lives of thousands of women turn into an exhausting race between securing what remains of warmth, drying the tent floor from flooding, and protecting children from the biting cold and the sounds of shelling that have not disappeared.Women inside the camps and displacement centers face harsh living conditions. There is no equipped kitchen, no safe toilet, no cleaning supplies, and not even warm clothes.However, the Gazan woman gets up at dawn to prepare a meal for her children, wash what can be washed, and check on her little ones sleeping under worn blankets.Daily challengesAwkal, who was displaced from northern Gaza, told Safa News Agency: “The low pressure system is a disaster for us. We have no walls to protect us or floors to prevent drowning, but I am resisting for the sake of my children, to make them feel that their mother is still a source of comfort and security.”She adds, “We spend long hours trying to light the fire, and sometimes we fail completely. The children ask for hot food, and all I can do is try again so that I can provide what they want.”She continues, “This suffering was not part of our lives before the war, when cooking gas and electricity were available. Today, with the destruction of infrastructure and the prevention of fuel and cooking gas from being brought in, lighting a fire has become a daily challenge, accompanied by a constant fear of fires breaking out or accidents occurring.””We fear the fire, but we take the risk because we have no other choice. We never expected that preparing food would turn from a simple household chore into a daily battle against the wind, the cold, and the consequences of war,” says Awkal.It’s not just about preparing food; it also includes washing her children’s clothes in a small plastic basin with very cold water. Awkal adds, “There’s no washing machine, no hot water, and not even enough soap. I bend over for hours, while my hands tremble from the intense cold.”The women live inside dilapidated tents or shelters that lack the most basic necessities of life, or inside dilapidated houses, which puts them in front of new challenges and dangers.a heavy burdenAs for citizen Faten Naji (35 years old), she suffers from severe pain in the joints and lower back, after a round of hardship and fatigue in the cold water. She tells Safa News Agency: “I feel that my hands are freezing, and I suffer from pain in the joints and back, but I cannot stop.”She adds, “The cold spells have exacerbated my health problems, as I now suffer from frequent colds and chronic joint pain, but I am forced to continue washing clothes because of the scarcity of available clothes and the spread of humidity inside the tents, which makes postponing washing an impossible option.”She continues, “The war has stolen everything from us, even our health. We bear the greatest burden in the absence of any alternatives or services to alleviate the impact of these actions.” Gaza women, Gaza displacement, Gaza war
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