{"id":17409,"date":"2025-12-19T08:39:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T13:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=17409"},"modified":"2025-12-24T08:39:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:39:51","slug":"fractured-lives-where-should-i-go-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/fractured-lives-where-should-i-go-mother\/","title":{"rendered":"Fractured Lives: \u2018Where Should I Go, Mother?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite a two-month\u00a0ceasefire<\/a>\u00a0in Gaza and increased aid flowing into the territory, humanitarian crises continue to rise.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the current harsh winter conditions, hundreds of thousands of displaced families have faced flooding, collapsing shelters and freezing temperatures. Many are living in tents or with little protection from the elements. Heavy rainfall over recent days has inundated and destroyed makeshift housing, turning displacement sites into pools of cold water, deepening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Om Haitham Ouda and her family are struggling to manage in these conditions. Ms. Ouda lived in a five-story residential building in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. However, her home became uninhabitable during the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, and she and her family now shelter in a partially destroyed and waterlogged structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe absolutely can\u2019t live here because of the rain,\u201d she told CNEWA\u2019s ONE<\/em> magazine<\/a> in an interview \u201cThe water comes inside day and night. We gather in one corner and spend the whole night holding squeegees, wiping water off ourselves and our children. We don\u2019t sleep \u2014 not in the day, not at night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Heavy rainfall in Gaza over recent days has flooded vast areas of land and destroyed makeshift housing, worsening the humanitarian crisis. (photo: Diaa Ostaz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Ouda recalled how her family was forced to flee her home after being told to evacuate the area by the Israeli military. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs soon as we walked barely 100 meters, they brought the whole area down,\u201d she said. \u201cThey slaughtered us, made us go crazy \u2014 and then winter came.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her family\u2019s suffering has intensified with the cold. A daughter-in-law gave birth by cesarean section earlier this week in the flooded shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are afraid to light a fire near her,\u201d Ms. Ouda said. \u201cWe light it under the rain, and even then, it doesn\u2019t ignite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Ouda said her entire family \u2014 some of whom are doctors and lawyers \u2014 is scattered across tents and unsafe shelters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy son called me at 2 a.m. and said his daughter has hypothermia because of the rain in the tent,\u201d she said. \u201cHe asked me, \u2018Where should I go, Mother?\u2019 What answer do I have?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cold and wind are killing us,\u201d she said. \u201cWhoever gets sick dies. What can I do?\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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