JERUSALEM Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem treats cancer patients who came here from Gaza before the war.
There is no cancer hospital in Gaza, so Gazans are treated in two hospitals in East Jerusalem.
Abu Kaloub of Hana57, is in the hospital with her one-year-old granddaughter Samah’n as an escort. They have been here since September.
– I am really worried. Every day when I hear about new bombings, I ask God to protect my children. Only God knows what will happen to them in Gaza.
At our request, Kaloub makes a short phone call to one of his sons during the interview, and the son answers.
– My heart hurts and I feel bad if I can’t contact them by phone or online.
Kaloub’s two daughters and three sons and 18 grandchildren have so far survived the Israeli bombings. It was close, because at the very beginning of the bombardment, an Israeli strike destroyed the house next door to his son, according to Kaloub.
The woman who came to her friends from the southern part of Gaza City has lost a lot.
– I have lost my dear relatives and neighbors. Several of my neighbors were killed in the bombing of the mosque. My relatives died near the Erez border crossing at the beginning of the war. One of my relatives died in the attack on al-Shati refugee camp, he enumerates.
Kaloub tears up when he talks about the loved ones he lost and the situation in Gaza. In the hospital, she has to focus on her little grandchild.
He does not dare to think about the future.
– I was thinking in my mind when I can return to Gaza. It can take a long time. Even if I want to go back, I have nowhere to go.
Kaloub thinks his home was destroyed in the bombings. The destruction of the hospital in the explosion in Gaza City shocked the woman deeply.
– I am anxious. I have cried a lot. My eyes are sore from crying. I don’t want to cry anymore because my eyes are tired of it.
– We are mentally and physically tired. We are really tired. I fear for my children, relatives and friends. My heart is broken.
Um Ali had to leave her six children in Gaza
– If you have a helicopter, can you take us out of here and take my family with you? asks Um Ali Etc30.
Jnene is at Augusta Victoria Hospital with her 8-year-old son Ali. He came to East Jerusalem for his son’s treatment in September, also from Gaza City.
Jnene has been in the hospital with her son for 35 days. Six of her children, her husband and other relatives are in Gaza in the middle of the war.
– It’s a really long time to be away from family. I am really worried about my loved ones.
When Gazans were urged to leave their homes in flyers, Jnene’s parents and siblings fled. Her husband and children decided to stay at home.
– Thank God I haven’t lost my loved ones. My husband often has to wake up the children in the middle of the night. Then they go to a safer place and come back when the shelling stops.
The youngest of Jnene’s children is under two years old. He is currently under the care of Jnene’s sister.
– I worry all the time. If my husband doesn’t answer the phone, I’m afraid they’re all dead. The kids ask me to come home, but I can’t go there. My heart is broken. My children need me.
– Our neighbor’s house was hit and the windows in our house also broke. That’s when my husband ran away with the children. When the bombing ended they returned to our house.
The family repeatedly moves to shelter from bombings, but has remained in the home. Everyday life is difficult because, among other things, there is a shortage of water in Gaza. Jnene’s children got to bathe the other day for the first time in a long time.
– My husband has been washing the children with mineral water. My family is stuck in our house. You can’t go out for a walk.
According to Jnene, people in Gaza are very stressed.
– Everyone has lost hope. To me they say: If we meet again, they don’t say when we meet again.
– We are desperate because Israel is bombing us. There is no hope.
Jnene does not want to answer a question about what he thinks about Hamas’s attack on Israel. The attack two weeks ago kicked off the ever-escalating conflict. The plight of the people in Gaza is getting worse.