{"id":300219,"date":"2024-08-19T14:45:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T18:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=300219"},"modified":"2024-08-19T14:45:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T18:45:51","slug":"world-humanitarian-day-19aug24","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/world-humanitarian-day-19aug24\/","title":{"rendered":"World Humanitarian Day: \u2018In Gaza, we can\u2019t imagine tomorrow\u2019 – WFP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

19 August 2024<\/div>\n
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WFP staff on the challenges of working in the most testing circumstances<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\"After

War-displaced Gazans on the move yet again, arriving in Khan Younis from the southern city of Rafah. Photo: WFP\/Ali Jadallah<\/p><\/div>\n

Windows shattered by nearby airstrikes. Children crying out from conflict\u2019s psychological blowback. The sense of a hangman\u2019s noose growing ever tighter. These are some of the stories shared by World Food Programme Gaza employees. Like for hundreds of thousands of fellow Palestinians on the Strip, there is no escaping the 10-month-old war. Three WFP colleagues\u00a0<\/em>\u2013\u00a0Fatima Khudair, Amal Abushammala and Nour Hammad\u00a0<\/em>\u2013\u00a0recount their experience of surviving and working through Gaza\u2019s crisis, trying to fight fear and hold on to hope, and finding fleeting happiness in doing their jobs.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fatima Khudair<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Programme Assistant<\/em><\/h3>\n
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\"Fatima

Fatima Khudair feels good when she can make a difference for people WFP assists. Photo: WFP\/Nour Hammad<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>

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Days after the war in Gaza began, Fatima Khudair and her family fled their home in Gaza city, beginning a months-long odyssey that took them to the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, before settling\u00a0<\/em>\u2013\u00a0for now\u00a0<\/em>\u2013\u00a0in a town in central Gaza. Today, she and her husband and two daughters (aged 1 and 3) live in a single room in a WFP guesthouse, sharing cramped quarters with 11 other families.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each time you arrive in a new place, you have nothing. You have to rebuild your life from scratch. My kids are growing up, and they have no clothes that fit them. When the weather got cold, they had nothing to keep them warm. We go to the market and pick up whatever clothes we find. There\u2019s now food at the market, but it\u2019s very expensive.<\/p>\n

I get up every morning, breastfeed my youngest daughter and go to work. I tell my youngest, \u2018you\u2019re the lucky one. You have your breast milk, your food is here.\u2019 But my eldest has sleeping disorders. Each displacement is hard on her. Sometimes she gets angry or cries for no reason.<\/p>\n

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\"kids

Children collect bread from a WFP-supported bakery in Gaza. Photo: WFP<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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My job is to listen and provide feedback to people WFP assists. It\u2019s hard because you know people are suffering. People have no clean water, skin diseases are spreading in the camps. It\u2019s hard knowing you often can\u2019t offer them immediate solutions, but you can make a difference just by listening to them\u00a0\u2013\u00a0or by telling them, for example, where to pick up a WFP food parcel. That feels very good.<\/p>\n

We get up every day and we plan for the day. We can\u2019t imagine the next day. We might have to evacuate again. We might be killed. It\u2019s really hard to have a spark of hope. But when I look at my kids\u2019 eyes, I know there\u2019s a reason to continue, to get up every day. I need to give them a better life, to keep them safe, to work harder. To stay well for them.<\/p>\n

Amal Abushammala<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Driver and administrative assistant<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\"Amal's

Amal Abushammala says her WFP colleagues try to make a good work environment, despite their losses and hardship. Photo: WFP\/Nour Hammad<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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A civil engineer by training who grew up in the southern city of Rafah, Amal Abushammala worked as a WFP driver in Gaza – until a bullet in February shattered her windshield. Abushammala survived, but changed jobs to work in administration, helping colleagues get accommodation and sorting through red tape to import essential supplies. She rents a tiny room in central Gaza which she shares with her brother and sister.<\/em><\/p>\n

My parents left for Egypt three days before the war started. Now, when they hear anything in the news, they call us to find out what happened, whether we\u2019re safe. But there\u2019s no safe place in Gaza.<\/p>\n

In May, we left our family home in Rafah after receiving evacuation orders, taking just a few things\u00a0\u2013\u00a0clothes, dishes. Every time you get to a new place, they\u2019ll be a new order to leave, so it\u2019s very tiring.<\/p>\n

At the WFP office, we try to make a good work environment. It\u2019s always busy, so you don\u2019t always have time to feel afraid. But we\u2019re always afraid for our families. One of my colleagues lost 10 people in his family, including three daughters. Another lost his brothers. They\u2019re very sad, but what can you do? This is our life.<\/p>\n

\"A

A car navigates the destruction in Gaza. Photo: WFP<\/p><\/div>\n

As a driver, I would see dead and injured people on the ground. Now, I\u2019m responsible for helping my colleagues, trying to find them food, accommodation, clothes from the market\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and it makes me feel better.<\/p>\n

I’m thinking about leaving Gaza (when the war ends), because you can\u2019t live in this situation. You build your home, your job, your family – and in seconds, it\u2019s all destroyed. We try to make ourselves happy, but nothing allows you to be happy. God willing, conditions will improve.<\/p>\n

Nour Hammad<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Communications Officer<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\"WFP's

WFP’s Nour Hammad (R) speaks to women collecting our assistance. Photo: WFP<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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Nour Hammad left her home in the central Gazan town of Alzahra\u2019 last November, a month after the war began. \u00a0Today, she lives with her siblings in a small apartment, also in central Gaza. There\u2019s a serious lack of water and no electricity, but she feels lucky to have a roof over her head – even though its difficult to stay positive.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I look out my window, I see bombed-out buildings and tents all around. People struggle to pitch new tents, because it\u2019s too crowded. Every day it gets more crowded.<\/p>\n

When I left my home, I evacuated to another town in central Gaza, thinking it would be the safest place. But it became absolutely unsafe and I evacuated again to a refugee camp in the area. Then an airstrike near us shattered my windows and door, and forced me to evacuate once again.<\/p>\n

With every evacuation, you realize nothing is certain. The neighbour you got to know is no longer your neighbour. The place you thought was safe is no longer safe. You are never the same person after such experiences.<\/p>\n

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\"In

People await hot food from a WFP-supported community kitchen in the southern Gazan city of Rafah. Photo: WFP\/Ali Jadallah<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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I love Gaza, but I\u2019ve always seen it like a tiny prison. These last 10 months feel like 10 years. It sometimes feels like a hangman\u2019s noose is around your neck. Some days, the noose is so tight you can barely take a breath. But other days I feel capable, cheerful, ready to persevere.<\/p>\n

At the office, we try to take care of one another because we know everyone is going through a lot. I have a great WFP team; they are my support group during these days. Sometimes our operations take a step forward; then military action will put us three, five steps back. At some point, you start wondering: what\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n

But these moments go away when we see people getting WFP food. In northern Gaza, they sent us air kisses and hearts to thank us. It\u2019s moments like these that remind me there\u2019s a reason for our work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a 19 August 2024 WFP staff on the challenges of working in the most testing circumstances Windows shattered by nearby airstrikes. Children crying out from conflict\u2019s psychological blowback. The sense of a hangman\u2019s noose growing ever tighter. These are some of the stories shared by World Food Programme Gaza employees. Like for hundreds of […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2453],"document-source":[2109],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2517,1769,1945,2005,1741,1745],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6544,6542],"class_list":["post-300219","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-article","document-source-world-food-programme-wfp","document-subject-access-and-movement","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-arabic","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/300219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/300219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300280,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/300219\/revisions\/300280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=300219"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=300219"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=300219"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=300219"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=300219"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=300219"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=300219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}