It is dark and it is getting quiet in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza. But the children of the Abu Ataya family do not want to go to bed. They hear the sound of drones and in the distance how something is being bombed by Israeli bombers. Their grandmother tries to get them under the covers.
– The children are always afraid and think they have to run away quickly if something happens nearby. Me and their mother hug them but I no longer know how to comfort them, says grandmother Aida Abu Ataya.
TV4 has given a freelancer in Gaza the task of following the Abu Ataya family for a day.
Forced to flee
The family’s breadwinner, Nizar Abu Ataya, has been working at a solar park for the past few years, but after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, which killed around 1,100 Israelis, and the war that followed, he is unemployed. Like most others in Gaza.
The family comes from the neighborhood of Bureij, which was built in 1949 as a refugee camp for the Palestinians who were forcibly displaced after the creation of Israel in 1948. Nowadays it is an integrated neighborhood and the Abu Ataya family built their house in the 60s.
Today the house is destroyed and the family on the run. They have been forced to relocate many times due to airstrikes or ground troops. A completely different life than they had planned, just like for hundreds of thousands of other Gazans.
Tried to live in the racial masses
At first they tried to stay in the house.
– But one day there was an explosion and so much was destroyed that we fled to a school. But my husband Saed didn’t like it and preferred to live in the racial masses so we returned to what was left of the house, says Aida Abu Ataya.
– It was so cold, there was no heat, no water or electricity. And one morning we found my husband dead, it was probably his weak heart. Then parts of the family moved to the camp, she continues.
She finally manages to get all the grandchildren under the blankets and tells them to be quiet and sleep.
“Horrible Night”
The next morning, the eldest grandchild, who has the same name as grandmother, says that it was difficult to sleep.
– I heard lots of explosions and at one point I saw something catch fire. I was terrified and crawled under the covers and hugged my mother. But it was a terrible night, says Aida, 10 years old.
Father Nizar tries to muster the strength to go out and look for food for the family, just like every day since the war. He asks his wife what they have to eat in the makeshift kitchen under the sky. She replies that they only have beans and some pressed meat.
– Before the war, I used to buy chicken or lamb, at least every Friday, but now it’s impossible to get hold of, and if there is, I don’t have the money to buy it with, he says.
He has panic in his voice. Their youngest child has been diagnosed as malnourished and another child has a bone disease and needs medicine, which is not available.
Difficult to find food – don’t want to leave the family
Nizar tries to buy food with his savings or asks his brothers for help, but usually they don’t have anything either. Everyone puts great trust in the few aid shipments that come in through the country’s borders.
– But the difficult thing is not to look for food without leaving the family. I don’t know if I’ll be killed by an explosion while I’m away or if I come home and the tent is hit by a bomb. It’s happened to others and it’s the only thing I think about when I’m gone. Ideally, I want to stay here with the others all the time, says Nizar.
This day he gets hold of some tuna, the children get some food and start playing outside the tent.
Yesterday 16:56
Long days for the children when almost all the schools in Gaza are destroyed
“Missing everything about my old house”
The children have strict rules about where they are allowed to go and think that the days around the tent are long. Not least for the older children because there are no longer any schools.
According to the UN, around 80 percent of the schools are destroyed. But Aida tries to get her younger siblings to play school or games like she usually does in the school yard.
– I miss everything about my old house. I miss my toys and my school bag. And then I miss my cousins and my grandfather. In our house we could always talk and play, says Aida.
Soon dusk comes and the same struggle to get the children to sleep begins.
– I understand them. It has happened several times that we have to escape in the middle of the night and then come back after a few hours. There is no safe place or safe sleep. Neither for children nor adults, says Nizar.