According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll in the war has exceeded 41,000, most of whom are women and children. At the same time, most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been forcibly displaced and forced to flee, and only 10 percent of the area has been settled.
But in the darkness of war, some new initiatives have given a glimmer of hope.
Mahmoud Kallakh, a teacher in Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis, set up a camp to provide relief to families who had lost their family men and breadwinners.
Currently, it is caring for 400 Palestinian families displaced from the al-Baraka orphanage camp in southern Gaza.
In an interview with UN news correspondent Ziad Taleb, Mahmoud Kallakh called it an ‘orphanage city’ and explained that the initiative was providing proper care to asylum-seeking families.
This includes the provision of shelter, food and drink, educational and social services and medical care with support from organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Mahmoud Kallakh said, “We have a dedicated medical center and a school sponsored by the United Nations through UNICEF, which provides the necessary resources for the school, supplies the students with stationery and arranges the salaries of the teachers. Want, so that students can get a good and comfortable environment for learning.”
More than 17 thousand children are orphans in Gaza
The number of children studying in these schools is a drop in the ocean compared to the orphaned children in Gaza. These children need protection. The number of vulnerable orphans in Gaza has risen to between 17,000 and 18,000, many without family members.
Talin al-Hinnawi lost her father in the war and is now trying to adjust to her new life in the al-Baraka orphanage camp. When talking to UN News about her father, her expression of grief and sadness was evident.
He said, “Baba (father) was very affectionate. “I still don’t think father is martyred.”
This young woman’s outlook on life has now completely changed.
The war, he said, was “trying to wipe out the whole family.”
Talin al-Hinnawi said he wanted to return to his home in Gaza City so that his life would be normal, he could study like everyone else and memorize the Quran like everyone else. “Before we lived in our own homes, we didn’t bother anyone and were busy with ourselves.”
‘We lost them’“
This war has taken away my father and only brother from me.”
With these words young Nada al-Gharib began to tell his story. Khan Younis and his mother were injured in the attack on the tent where the family had taken shelter. He was trapped inside for three days.
Nada said her family was displaced from northern Gaza and came to Khan Yunis “because the occupiers ordered us to do so.”
He said, we got stuck after coming here. My father and my only brother were martyred and I and my mother were injured.
We live here like brothers and sisters
After managing to escape the tent, Nada and her mother went to an industrial area west of Khan Yunis, where they received treatment but were trapped again. He said he passed through an Israeli checkpoint, then entered Rafah, but had to flee from there as well. While trying to escape, he eventually reached the Al-Baraka Orphanage Camp.
He said he and his mother felt like they had found a second home at the camp, “because everyone around us had the same sad story.”
He said, we live here like brothers and sisters. All mothers are like our mothers, and all children are our brothers and sisters. We love each other so much here. We love our life so much. “Although it is difficult and very difficult for us to bear the loss (of our loved ones), we try to live for them.”
Nada said her father was a great, kind man who loved his family very much.
He said, “He never let us do any difficult work. Now, things are difficult. We had to fetch water and do all the work men used to do. But we have no choice because we lost them.
Escalating conflict
Unicef says the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip is having a devastating impact on children and families, with child mortality rates rising alarmingly. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 14,000 children have been killed and thousands more injured in the war.
An estimated 1.9 million people – nearly 9 out of 10 Gazans – are internally displaced due to lack of adequate water, food, fuel and medicine, more than half of them children.
United Nations agencies, an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire, immediate, safe and uninterrupted humanitarian access to all children and families in need inside Gaza, including the northern Strip, immediate, safe and unconditional release of all abducted children, and prevention. Violence against children, killing and maiming calls for an end to any grave violation.