The Gaza Strip
About 15 months after the round of fighting that took place in Gaza in May 2021 (operation “Guardian of the Walls”), Israel rained fire on the Gaza Strip once again, launching a new “round” of fighting (Breaking Dawn). The fighting in August 2022 lasted three days and claimed the lives of 49 Palestinians. Over the past few months, B’Tselem has spoken to several of the wounded in the May 2021 fighting, who are still struggling to rehabilitate themselves. In that round, 233 Palestinians were killed, including 38 women and 54 children. More than half took no part in the fighting. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, tens of thousands lost their homes and dozens of health care, and infrastructure facilities were damaged. The wreckage of buildings and fallen utility poles blocked streets and roads, impeding the passage of ambulances and other vehicles evacuating casualties. The damage to the electricity grid and the water infrastructure also made it difficult for hospitals to operate. In their testimonies, the wounded give their personal perspective on how they and their families are coping with the challenges of rehabilitation. In addition to the personal stories, the testimonies shed light on the wider context in which the wounded from this round of fighting, and previous ones, live as they desperately try to rehabilitate. Rehabilitation after a serious injury is a tough process under any circumstances, with complex physical and mental health aspects. In Gaza, however, it is tougher still, as the number of wounded keeps growing from one round of fighting to the next, while Gaza’s health infrastructure continues to crumble as a result of the Israeli blockade. According to the World Health Organization, two out of 30 hospitals in Gaza stopped functioning during the May 2021 fighting due to damage, and the others functioned on a partial basis only. In addition, 57 out of 93 primary care clinics stopped functioning, while the rest functioned partially. Gaza’s health care system is grappling with a dire shortage of medicine, equipment and physicians, particularly doctors with up-to-date training. Despite this, as part of its blockade on Gaza, Israel continues to restrict the entry of medicine and advanced medical equipment into Gaza and denies physicians exit for training, further harming the wounded and denying them proper rehabilitation. Israel also denies many of the wounded access to medical institutions in the West Bank, just a few dozen kilometers away, to receive medical treatments they need and are not available in the Gaza Strip. According to Handicap International, there are currently about 50 non-governmental rehabilitation centers in Gaza that rely on funding from foreign foundations. They suffer from staff shortages, have trouble training staff, and are only able to offer physiotherapy and psychosocial support. Occupational rehabilitation with assistive devices, for instance, is rarely available. When it comes to prosthetic limbs, Gaza currently has only two orthopedic rehabilitation facilities, one run by the Red Cross and the other, established in March 2022, operating with Qatari funding. Israel eschews responsibility and has absolved itself of any payment of compensation for almost all injuries, citing “warfare action” through legislative enactments, leaving Palestinian claimants with infinitesimal odds of receiving monetary compensation for the harm and suffering Israel caused them. Victims of the fighting in Gaza suffer extreme financial hardship and have no access to the kind of support that can enable rehabilitation. They live in constant fear and terror of more rounds of fighting, with the feeling that at any given moment, they could once again become targets for Israeli fire. We spoke with young adults and students who were severely injured, as well as parents of severely injured children, some of whom have lost family members and some have sustained permanent disabilities. They described their daily struggles, as they cope with debilitating physical and psychological injuries. Testimonies collected by B’Tselem field researchers in the Gaza Strip: Testimony of Muhammad Abu Sakran (17) from a-Shuja’iyeh neighborhood in Gaza City, who was severely wounded by a missile that landed in the doorway of his home and killed his grandfather and his father’s cousin. He still has a motor disability in his legs and in one hand, and life-threatening shrapnel lodged in his head. He gave his testimony to B'Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 1 August 2022. I was badly injured in the war last year. On the last day of Ramadan, 12 May 2021, at around 8:30 P.M., I was at home with my grandfather and my father’s cousin when suddenly, a missile was fired at our house. I spent a week in the ICU at a-Shifaa Hospital. Over the past year I’ve been treated at the El Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital, on the Doctors Without Borders wing. I’ve undergone surgery on my left leg and have had physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychotherapy. Before the injury, I had a normal life. I went to a vocational school every day from 7:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. I liked carpentry class and gym class, and hung out with friends a lot. After school, I’d have lunch at home and then work a little at repairing bikes, which was a hobby of mine. I also helped my grandfather plow land and tend to his crops. Since the injury, I’ve stopped going to school and stay home most of the time. I have unbearable headaches and can’t use my right hand because of a neurological problem. When I do go outside, I use crutches. I hate them and the way my body looks, deformed by the shrapnel. I get irritated easily and am aggressive with my brothers. It’s killing me mentally. My medical condition is not improving and I simply can’t do anything on my own – no sports, no cycling. Whenever I see our front door, it reminds me of the missile that hit our home and killed my grandfather and my father’s cousin, so I withdraw into myself and cry. I watch shows and movies on my phone most of the time, but nothing makes me happy anymore. I keep remembering my time in hospital after the injury and thinking about my grandfather, who would take me to work with him. My life has become a nightmare of memories and pain. Testimony of Muhammad’s father, Hisham Abu Sakran (44) That night, Muhammad was home with his grandfather, Ahmad Ibrahim Abu Sakran (64), and my paternal cousin Muhammad Nahed Abu Sakran (25). Suddenly, a missile was fired at the house and they were both killed. Muhammad, who was next to them, was severely injured. When the missile landed, I was on the second floor. I rushed downstairs and found my father dead. I saw Muhammad lying next to Muhammad Nahed, and there was a lot of blood. There was smoke and debris everywhere. I picked them both up and carried them out to a car that was there, which took us to a-Shifaa Hospital. Someone brought my father to the hospital, too, and the doctors told me he’d been killed. Later, my cousin Muhammad Nahed also died of his wounds at the hospital. I was told my son had been martyred. Someone else said he was in the ICU and needed a blood transfusion. At around 1:00 A.M., the doctors asked me for blood for Muhammad. I waited until 3:00 A.M. without knowing how he was, and then I was told he was still in a very serious condition. They told us to pray for him. When I went into the room to see him, he was lying in bed without moving, hooked up to tubes everywhere. I couldn’t process it. I left the hospital and went home to say goodbye to my father and bury him. Muhammad spent a week in the ICU, and then he lay in hospital for about two months. My son Tamer (38) stayed with him the whole time he was in hospital. He had trouble talking and couldn’t eat or drink. After two weeks on the ward, he was able to eat light food. From there, he was transferred to El Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital and put on the Doctors Without Borders wing for two months, where he had physiotherapy and occupational therapy. He was barely able to move at that point – he had trouble moving his right hand because of neurological damage, and had fractures in his left leg and shrapnel in the right. He got a lot of stitches and they put platinum in his legs. He was in constant pain and I was there most of the time, to help him as much as I could. After about two months at El Wafa Hospital, his platinum implants were corrected at a-Shifaa Hospital. Then I took him home, where his mental health just kept deteriorating. He stopped eating and drinking almost entirely again, and got angry and yelled most of the time. We went to Doctors Without Borders again, and they gave him mental health support. He also continued with physiotherapy there, and in May 2022 the outer platinum was removed from his left leg and the bone was treated. Now he uses crutches. Muhammad’s body is full of shrapnel and he’s still very weak. The doctors say he’s in danger because of a piece of shrapnel that’s stuck in his head, close to his brain. We’ve been warned he must never bang his head, because the shrapnel might move and damage his brain. Even sneezing could cause it. Until he was injured, Muhammad studied carpentry at the vocational school in Gaza. He hasn’t gone back to school since then and stays home most of the time. He’s very anxious. Testimony of ‘Abdallah Islim (23) from Gaza City, who was severely injured by a missile Israel fired at a car near which he was standing. Six people were killed in the attack, including a friend of his and a relative of the friend. He gave his testimony to B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-’Azayzeh on 18 May 2022. On 12 May 2021, at around 10:30 A.M., I was walking with ‘Abed al-Ghazali (28) to the restaurant we worked at on al-Wihada Street, in order to open up despite the bombings. When we got to al-Mughrabi Street, we ran into ‘Abed’s cousin, Nader al-Ghazali (46), outside the sewing shop he works at and chatted with him for a while. Just then, a car stopped a few meters away from us. I caught a glimpse of three passengers inside and suddenly, there was a strong blast. ‘Abed flew up in the air and hit the steel door of a store near us. I stayed put. There was blood everywhere and I felt very dizzy. I moved a few meters away and I realized I’d been hit by shrapnel along the entire rightside of my body. I fell down and recited the Shahadatein [“There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is Allah’s prophet”]. About three minutes later, there was another bombing. I felt I’d been hit in the stomach. I got up and walked a few meters to a nearby drugstore, and asked the pharmacist to help me check on ‘Abed. I was bleeding from the right eye and my clothes were soaked in blood, so he got scared and called out for help. A few young guys who were there drove me to a-Shifaa Hospital in their car. After three days in hospital, I was told ‘Abed and his cousin Nader had been martyred. I stayed in hospital for 15 days. In July 2021, I had abdominal surgery, but they couldn’t get all the shrapnel out and I’m still in pain. I also had chest surgery and some of my bones were removed. Since then, I’ve also been suffering from shortness of breath and chest pain, and I have trouble sleeping at night. I’ve have hearing loss in my right ear and the retina in my right eye is damaged. I don’t go out of the house much. I couldn’t go back to the restaurant, so I’ve lost my livelihood. I was the sole provider for my family, and now the whole family is suffering. Before that, we wanted for nothing. We ate well and I provided for everyone’s needs. I also paid university tuition for my sister Hanadi (24) and my brother Shadi (19), but they only managed to finish one semester and then I couldn’t cover their tuition anymore because of the injury. Before my injury, I managed to save up about 2,000 USD to buy a transit car for extra income, but I’ve spent almost all my savings on my medical care. Ever since I’ve been out of work, our situation has been getting worse. I don’t know how we’ll be able to go on. Testimony of Mu’awiyah al-Wahidi (43), a father of two from a-Zeitun neighborhood in Gaza City, who lost his right leg when a missile fired by Israel landed near his workplace. He gave his testimony to B'Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 18 May 2022. On 12 May 2021, at around 11:00 A.M., I was in my barbershop when suddenly, I heard a loud explosion outside. Right after that, Nader al-Ghazali (46) came into the barbershop in a panic, saying: “Help, Mu’awiyah! I can’t breathe!” He was in a terrible state. I took him outside and we walked about 30 meters from the barbershop. He was bleeding from the mouth, and then he fell down. I tried to give him first aid. I looked at the street and saw at least four martyrs lying near the car that had exploded. I recognized Sa’id al-Hittu and his wife Maysoun al-Hittu among the dead. Three minutes later, another missile landed right next to us and Nader was instantly killed. My right leg was severed and didn’t stop bleeding for 20 minutes. Everyone around me was in a panic – we were all scared there would be another airstrike. People gathered round me and called an ambulance. When it came, the paramedics took me and left all the martyrs on the street. I was taken to a-Shifaa Hospital and must have blacked out on the way. At the hospital, I was taken into surgery and my right leg was amputated. I later found out they’d planned to amputate my left leg, too. It was in a bad state, but they decided to treat afterwards. After a week in hospital, I was transferred to the care of Doctors Without Borders, which treats injured people and also operates at al-Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. I remember hearing the Israeli airstrikes on the way. I was discharged after about 40 days there, with an amputated leg and a lot of problems in the other leg. That was when my ordeal really started, and it’s been going on for a year now. To this day, my whole body is in pain. Twice a week, a team from the National Physiotherapy Authority visits me at home. My left leg is barely there and I need a hydraulic prosthetic, which should carry some of my body weight and make it easier for me to walk. But at Hamad Hospital in Gaza they told me they wouldn’t be able to help me get it, because Israel isn’t allowing prosthetic parts into Gaza. There’s a special wheelchair, too, that could make it easier for me to work, but it costs about 1,500 US dollars and I can’t afford it right now. One of the charities gave me an electric wheelchair that helps me move around outside, and sometimes I get donations from people. I live on the fourth floor without an elevator and it’s very difficult for me to go up and down the stairs, so I stay home most of the time. I feel like a burden to my family. Because I can’t help around the house anymore, my wife is also overworked and she’s started to suffer from a herniated disc in her back. My helplessness is affecting the entire household. My two sons, Sadim (8) and Siraj, (11), were top students. Since my injury, their grades have gone down. They see me so upset that I break things at home. It’s been a year since my injury and it’s still really hard to get out of this mental state. I became a victim of the Israeli army while I was at work, even though I was no threat to Israel in any way. Sometimes, when I go to the barbershop, I see the burning car and the martyrs lying on the ground in my mind’s eye. I remember how I picked up the martyr Nader al-Ghazali and ran from the other missile. It makes me cry and choke up every time. Once in a while, I try to go to the barbershop, but when a client comes in and asks for a haircut, I can’t always do it. All I want is to get the barbershop running well again and go back to work. I worked as a barber for 25 years and was the only breadwinner in our house. Despite my handicap, I get no disability pension from anyone. I feel like I’ve gone from business owner to beggar. Testimony of Ishaq Fayad (51), a father of six from Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, who lost his right leg when a missile hit his home directly. He gave his testimony to B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-’Azayzeh on 19 May 2022. On the night of 14 May 2021, we were hosting about 60 relatives, half of them children, in our house on al-Ba’ li Street in central Beit Hanoun because our area was considered safer. Shortly before midnight, we heard explosions that kept getting closer to us. When they grew louder, everyone started shouting in fear. I tried to reassure them and told them they were safe. I went up to the top floor. When I got there, while I was still in an open-air part of the stairwell, there was a big explosion that threw me at least three meters away. A few seconds later, there was another explosio n from a missile that hit the neighbors’ house. Rubble from the walls and roof of our building was scattered everywhere. Only the pillars stayed standing. My right leg was nearly cut off. It was still connected by a piece of skin and an artery, and I tried to pull it towards me. Shrapnel from the missile had hit my left leg and it didn’t stop bleeding. I crawled down the stairs to the ground floor. When I got to the street, I saw a lot of people running in a panic, looking for family members. I was dizzy. My son Ibrahim (22) and his wife Ghazal (22) carried me to the house of our neighbors, the a-Z’anin family, where they tied my leg to stop the bleeding. A few minutes later, they took me outside so an ambulance could take me to hospital. About 15 minutes later, an ambulance arrived and took me to hospital in Beit Hanoun. There, I was bandaged, and then I was transferred to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya. My son Jasser (23) went with me. I must have blacked out along the way. I woke up the following afternoon in hospital. Four days later, I was transferred to Nasr Hospital in Cairo, where I had about ten operations on my legs. I was also fitted with a fixator on my right leg. I was in terrible pain and lost a lot of weight during that time. I looked like a skeleton and was barely recognizable. My mental health was very poor. I’m lucky my wife Warda was there with me the whole time, supporting me. I stayed in hospital in Cairo for nine months, and on 13 March 2022 went back to Gaza. I continued treatment with Doctors Without Borders at al-Awda Hospital. The doctor there told me my right leg had to be amputated. I was shocked the situation was so bad. About three weeks later, my leg was amputated. I had two more operations on my leg, and I’m still having physiotherapy. I’ve also developed diabetes and hypertension but unfortunately, government drug stores in the Gaza Strip don’t carry the medicine I need, so I have to pay for it out of pocket. For instance, the pill I take for leg infections, Flucoral, costs 13 shekels (~4 USD) a pill. Since my leg was amputated, I’ve barely left the house, because I live on the second floor without an elevator. I’ve already fallen down the stairs. Before the injury, I was always on the go because I trade in sheep and goats. I’m not used to being unemployed and sitting at home. At least close friends come over to keep me company sometimes. Testimony of Majd al-’Ajleh (21), a law student from a-Shuja’iyeh neighborhood in Gaza City, who was injured by a missile fired by Israel when he was standing near his home. Since then, he has had a motor disability and speech difficulties. He gave his testimony to B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah on 26 May 2022. On Sunday, 15 May 2021, I set out from my house in a-Shuja’iyeh neighborhood. When I was still close by, at around 1:00 P.M., a missile fired from an airplane landed near me. Three of my cousins were killed in the strike: Yihya al-'Ajleh (24), Seif a-Din Abu al-'Ata (18), who had fled from his home in the eastern part of the neighborhood and was killed near his uncle’s home, and Muhammad Bhar (17), who was killed in the doorway to his brother’s home. My brother Muhammad and I were severely injured. I woke up at a-Shifaa Hospital after I was unconscious for 25 days. During that time, I had head surgery because of a fracture in my skull and abdominal surgery because of shrapnel that entered it and caused hemorrhaging and damage to the intestine. On 11 June 2021, I received a permit to go to al-Ahali Hospital in Hebron, where I had surgery on my right leg and arm. I was discharged from there about six months later, on 5 December 2021, and returned to Gaza unable to walk or talk. The head injury paralyzed the right side of my body, which is why I couldn’t move my right leg and arm. They’re both still in a cast. I still need a bone transplant on the left side of my skull. I’ve had months of physiotherapy and speech therapy at the ICRC hospital in Gaza, but I still have a hard time talking and walking. I’m using crutches until I get a prosthetic fitted at Hamad Hospital. My life has changed since the injury. My arm and leg are paralyzed, and I hate being treated like a disabled person and seen as handicapped. I need help most of the time because of the paralysis, and I’ve come to realize my life won’t go back to what it was. I see a psychotherapist to help with the mental challenges. Until the injury, everything was normal – I was a third-year law student at al-Azhar University in Gaza. But I haven’t gone back to school because of my condition. My dream was to go into law so I could help people exercise their rights. My mother also wanted her eldest son to be educated and successful. I’m worn out asking my mother and brothers for help all the time. They help me get dressed, eat, drink and go to the bathroom, and also come with me to all the treatments. I can’t move around freely, or even just go outside or hang out with friends. I’ve lost some of my close friends, who feel I’ve become a burden. I go from one treatment to another, from one hospital to another, hoping this suffering won’t last too much longer. Testimony of Lina al-Matrabi’i (27), a mother of three from a-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, whose five-year-old daughter Sarah was severely injured when a missile fired by Israel penetrated the ceiling of her home. She gave her testimony to B'Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 22 May 2022. On 14 May 2021, at around 8:30 P.M., my husband Zaher (43) was sitting in the living room and I was feeding five-year-old Sarah when suddenly, without any warning, a missile fell through the ceiling of the room. The apartment above us had been bombed. Sarah and I were covered in debris and I was afraid my husband had been killed, and that our house was marked as a target by the Israeli army. Sarah kept crying under the rubble. I managed to pull her towards me, and then my husband came and got her. I was about five months pregnant and shrapnel from the missile penetrated my belly, back and right arm. I put on my prayer clothes and we took Sarah outside to look for an ambulance or another car to evacuate her. She fainted several minutes later, and only then an ambulance came and took her to a-Shifaa Hospital. She was put in the ICU. She had damage to the skull that caused meningitis, an open fracture to the spine, and shrapnel that penetrated her spine and paralyzed both legs. The doctors told us her injuries were very dangerous and asked us to pray for her. Sarah woke up three days later, and they only let us see her after six days. Then she was transferred to the pediatric surgery ward at a-Shifaa Hospital for four days. She was in really bad shape and couldn’t see or talk. Ten days later, on 24 May 2021, we got permission to travel to Jordan, and we traveled through Erez Crossing to al-Hussein Hospital. There, she had more than ten operations on her back, which included rehabilitating her spinal cord and fixing it in place with screws. She also had skin graft surgery on her legs. She was in a terrible emotional state and barely ate. She kept bursting into tears or shouting, and had nightmares. She had psychotherapy there, too. About four months later, on 23 September 2021, I gave birth to my little boy, ‘Abdallah, in a C-section at the hospital in Jordan. It was one of the hardest times of my life, recovering from the C-section while Sarah was going through rehabilitation. About six months after Sarah’s injury, on 17 November 2021, we went back to Gaza. She was still in pretty bad shape. She couldn’t walk and was confined to a wheelchair. To this day, her condition hasn’t improved. The doctors at Hamad Hospital in Gaza referred her to physiotherapy and I take her every week or two. Sarah is also incontinent, so I drain her urine with a catheter and change her diapers regularly. Because my husband is out of work, we can’t give Sarah what she needs, so we sometimes get diapers donated by charities and aid organizations. We’re renting an apartment for 500 shekels (~USD 153) a month on the first floor of a building with an elevator, so it’s accessible for Sarah. Although Sarah’s condition isn’t stable yet and she’s tired most of the time, I take her to preschool when she’s not getting treatment. Thank God, she loves her friends and they help her and never leave her on her own. She doesn’t really understand the situation, and sometimes asks why the army bombed her and why she’s still sick. I reply that she’s strong. I have to hold her when she bathes, and I also dress her. It’s very hard and tiring, but even though it’s exhausting, I want her to stay as active as possible – so maybe it will take her mind off her disability for a little while. When she’s home, she crawls on the floor or sits on the couch or in the wheelchair. She’s still afraid all the time that something bad is about to happen, and she asks us not to mention the injury or the war. Sometimes, when she looks in the mirror, she asks me to cover her legs because it’s hard for her to see them. Every once in a while, I insist she let herself look at the injury, because maybe it will make it easier for her to accept the situation. She gets spooked by loud noises and is too afraid to stay home alone, so I take her a lot to the beach boardwalk, so she can let go and relax. What did Sarah do wrong? All she was doing was sitting at home having dinner. They bombed us without warning and robbed my daughter of every beautiful thing she had in her life. My heart is broken, but I try to stay strong around Sarah and hide my pain from her. Now she needs to be reassessed at a hospital outside Gaza, because the resources she needs aren’t available here. She’ll only be able to get better care outside Gaza, in hospitals in Arab countries, in Israel or in Europe. Testimony of Hibah al-Bahtiti (32), a mother of six from a-Shuja’iyeh neighborhood in Gaza City, whose six-year-old daughter Farah was severely wounded outside her house by a missile fired by Israel. She gave her testimony to B'Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 19 May 2022. On 12.5.21, the last day of Ramadan, at around 2:00 P.M., I sent my youngest daughter, Farah, out of the house to buy some things nearby. My sister-in-law Siham (30) was cleaning the stairs at the time. She was worried about Farah and called out to her to come back. Suddenly, there was a strong explosion outside. All the glass from the windows and stones from the building flew through the air. Siham yelled: “Farah’s been martyred!” I ran outside and saw a car going up in flames. Inside it was a martyr I didn’t recognize. There were a lot of injured people scattered near the car. Farah was lying on the ground, unconscious, quite close to our house. She was bleeding all over. I went into shock and was afraid she’d been martyred. It crushed me. Her aunt Wafa (23) yelled that Farah was still alive and started looking for a car to get her out of there. She was taken to the ICU at a-Shifaa Hospital, where they said she was very severely injured. Half an hour after Farah was evacuated, another ambulance came and took away Siham, who’d been injured by shrapnel in her left foot. Farah was unconscious for 12 days. That’s a very long time, and I was afraid she wouldn’t wake up. They only allowed her one visitor in the ICU, so my husband Rif’at (39) went. He said she was in very bad shape and that her left leg and arm were completely shattered. I could do nothing for her but pray. Farah had several operations, including a colectomy, and was fitted with platinum implants in her arm and leg. When she came out of the ICU, she didn’t talk and couldn’t hear well. She didn’t recognize any of us and for two weeks, I thought she had gone deaf or lost the ability to speak. I brought her brothers, cousins and friends to see her, and she started responding a little more. We filed several applications for a permit to go to a hospital in Jordan. We only got a permit to leave via Erez Crossing on 3 June 2021. I took her through Erez Crossing to the rehabilitation hospital in Jordan. The back of her head was injured and she had shrapnel in her lungs, abdomen, left arm, feet, left eye and right ear. The shrapnel in her left hand caused neurological damage to the wrist, and the shrapnel that penetrated her feet damaged the tendons. She also lost a lot of skin, and had skin grafts in her abdomen and left leg. She had a lot of other testing and imaging done at the hospital. We returned to Gaza on 5 September 2021, after three months in Jordan, and continued Farah’s rehabilitation at the Jordanian Hospital in Gaza. When her condition improved, she started walking. Now, a physiotherapist from the National Rehabilitation Association comes to our house. She can hold light objects in her right hand, but she still can’t control the left one. Farah is supposed to wear compression bandages that compress the skin to prevent swelling but they’re very tight, so sometimes she takes them off. She needs a skin graft and tendon extension. At the end of the month, we’re going to see a limb specialist. Whenever Farah sees her body in the mirror, she cries and asks why the Israelis did this to her. To this day, whenever she hears airplanes, she’s worried they’re coming to bomb her. I try to reassure her, telling her the war is over and we’re all with her. She has nightmares all the time and is scared of little things, such as water in the shower or doctors and injections. Since the injury she’s had trouble controlling her bladder, so I keep her in a diaper. Until recently, she wasn’t prepared to sleep alone and I slept next to her. Now she sleeps next to her sister, though she’s still scared and can’t relax. When she’s not getting treatments or going for tests, she goes to preschool, but she finds it hard to deal with the kids’ questions about her condition. I keep worrying one of the kids will unintentionally hurt her feelings. We got help from a respectable lady, who took Farah under her wing and covered our trip to Jordan and all our expenses there. But now, our financial situation is very bad. We are crowded into one house with 28 family members. We live only off what my husband makes from his fruit stand, which isn’t enough to provide for our six children: the twins Follah and Fuad (15), Muhammad (13), Ahmad (11), Yusef (8) and Farah (6).
30 August 2022
