Dozens of displaced women and children gathered outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday, raising their hands and chanting for a ceasefire.
Wrapped in scarves and winter coats, protesters carried signs directed at both Israel and Hamas, with messages that read: “Stop the war” and “Release the prisoners now,” referring to Israeli hostages taken during the murderous massacre. of Hamas in Israel. on October 7.
Israel has responded fiercely to that attack by besieging and bombing Gaza, devastating large parts of the enclave and displacing at least 1.93 million people, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
“We were forced to abandon our homes. Airstrikes fell on our heads, our relatives are under the rubble, they were killed in front of our eyes, so we fled,” a woman who asked to remain anonymous told CNN. I am dying. “I don't want flour, I don't want coupons, I want to go home.”
Huge displaced persons camps have mushroomed in Gaza, where diseases such as diarrhea, jaundice and hepatitis A are spreading due to overcrowded conditions and limited access to clean water or sanitation.
“We cannot feed our children or buy wood. We demand a ceasefire and return to our homes, even if they are attacked. We will rebuild them,” said Ismail Hassouna, another civilian. “We are against the policies of transfer and slaughter, killing children and starving people, stealing aid, keeping people inside tents without the minimum necessary to live,” Hassouna added. “We have the right to live , our children have the right to live.
With winter winds and torrential rains lashing Gaza, Nuha Shaheen told CNN that children “are freezing to death.”
“What's left? Enough, we want to go home.”
