The men in the wedding hall at the Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank spend a lot of time on their phones, smoking, and always checking for new updates on their news feeds. They seem very tired, and you can see that they have been through some terrible experiences in the past few days.
These 180 people, who are all men, are refugees from Gaza. They are part of around 18,000 people who live in the area and have permission to work in Israel. They can go back and forth across the border. When the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blocked all entry to Gaza after Hamas’ dangerous attack last Saturday, these men got trapped.
There are people in Khan Younis, which is a town in southern Gaza, facing a serious refugee crisis. They have families but cannot leave the town.
The Israeli military has been continuously attacking Gaza with airstrikes and artillery after Hamas fighters carried out a violent attack and fired many rockets, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,400 people. The scary group also took away about 150 more people last Saturday in their very shocking and violent attack.
The Israeli military wants to destroy Hamas and make sure it can never attack again. But many civilians have been severely affected by the campaign. The health department in Gaza said that in the past eight days, 2,450 people have died. This is even higher than the number of deaths during the entire 2014 war, which lasted for 51 days.
Ismail Abd Almagid’s wife and five kids, four girls and one boy, are in Gaza. Meanwhile, Ismail is staying in a refugee camp. He has videos of all of them saved on his phone. The picture shows a little girl named Misk eating a slice of mango. When he watches the video, tears start flowing down his cheeks.
Tala, the second oldest daughter of someone, got hurt in the war of 2014 while they were staying at their grandparents’ house. “He said, ‘Since she enjoys roller skates, I promised to bring them back when I return. ‘”
Abd Almagid, who is 44 years old, said to CNN that he always tries to stay connected with his wife. However, it has been hard to communicate because Israel stopped the access to electricity, food, and water in Gaza.
My kids want me to pray for them. He said that things are really tough there. “I want to return to Gaza immediately, even though there may be difficulties. Bring me to Gaza, I will go with you now. My life feels incomplete without my family. ”
Currently, there are a lot of people moving from one place to another in Gaza. Many of them are going to a crowded area called Khan Younis.
The Israeli military asked people who live in crowded areas in the north of Gaza, including Gaza City, to move to the southern part of the area. The United Nations said that the instruction, which would affect 1. 1 million people, would have extremely serious effects on people in need of help.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) informed CNN on Sunday that they believe around 500,000 individuals have moved from northern Gaza to the southern area up until now.
When Abd Almagid received permission to work in Israel in October of last year, it felt incredibly fortunate, like winning the lottery. The economy in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas but cut off by Israel and Egypt, has been severely damaged, and almost half of the people do not have jobs, as reported by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
I really wanted this permit because things are really bad in Gaza. The money situation and amount of money owed in the economy is very low. “There are no job opportunities,” he said, mentioning that he has been jobless since he finished school in 2004 when he received the permit.
Israel started giving many permits to people from Gaza so they can go into Israel for work. Israel did this to try and stop Hamas from fighting with weapons.
His wife, who studied English, also doesn’t have a job. He said he was going to Israel every second week to work at a bakery.
Most of the men at the Dheisheh refugee camp are in a similar situation. They are the only ones in their families who have a job. The amount of money people earn in Israel is much higher than what they could earn in Gaza.
Marwan Saqer, who is 55 years old, is the only person in his whole family who has a job. He is also the only one who has ever left Gaza.
He was doing a job at a building site in Kafr Qassem, a town of Arab people close to Tel Aviv, when Hamas carried out an attack on Israel. He said that the Palestinian Authority asked him and other people from Gaza to go to the West Bank because their Israeli work permits were canceled.
He said that the Dheisheh people welcomed them very warmly by giving them mattresses, blankets, and basic things they needed, and they also offered them comfort and friendship.
The Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem was made in 1949. At that time, 3,000 Palestinians came to live there because they were forced to leave their homes or run away from villages near Jerusalem.
The number of people living in the camp has increased to over 18,500. They now reside in an area that is one third of a square kilometer in size. This information is provided by the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
In the camp, the walls have pictures of its people who died in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been going on for many years. The custom began in the 1990s to honor and remember them and has continued until today.
The camp is controlled by the Palestinians, but the Israeli army often comes in and captures people and does searches. People who live nearby told CNN that the Israeli military came on Sunday morning and arrested three individuals. 180 people from Gaza have already come to the camp. We expect more people to come in the next few days.
While talking to CNN, Saqer’s phone kept ringing a few times because his son was calling him from Gaza. He answered the call, but it was cut off right away because the signal on the other end stopped working.
We talk, but they only give me some of the truth. He said to CNN that they don’t want to make him more worried.
These men feel very worried and sad because their wives and children are in a dangerous place called Gaza, while they are in a safer place called the refugee camp.
It is hard. We all gather in one place and talk about how we feel. We all feel the same as fathers. We all understand and experience the pain that our children go through,” Saqer said.
The room feels small and crowded, and everyone is feeling nervous. Arguments can happen quickly and easily over things like who gets to use power plugs.
“Saqer said that there are individuals in our group who cry all night, staying awake. ” “We are physically present, but mentally our focus is on Gaza. ”