Amany AbedAlrahman; A shelter tent can’t mend the suffering of displacement

Deir Al-Balah, Middle Area, Gaza Strip

A makeshift tent in a displacement center in Deir Al-Balah, in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip. This is where Amany AbedAlrahman lives with her siblings after a dramatic journey of forcible displacement to different places since last November until it ended up in this tent upon invasion of Rafah city by the Israeli Occupational Forces (IOF).

Mohammed (12 years old), Essam (11 years old), Waleed (7 years old), and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Amal (Oum Ahmad) who has just retired from her job as a Teacher at UNRWA share the tent with her.  

On October 13th, 2023 the Israeli Occupational Forces (IOF) declared that civilians in North Gaza must evacuate to the south of the Gaza Strip through Salah Aldin Street, where Amany’s husband, Ahmad Abed Al-Rahman, used to work as a paramedic to save the lives of injured citizens along the street, before being targeted and killed, leaving the poor Amany and their siblings surviving alone without any financial resources. 

From her house in Al-Naser area in Gaza City to her father’s house in Al-Shate’a camp where she stayed for a month, before evacuating under fire to Rafah, south Gaza Strip where she was hosted along with her family for seven months before her recent evacuation under heavy bombardment to Deir-Al Balah, in the Middle area of the Gaza Strip, so-declared by the Israeli Occupational Forces (IOF) to be a “safe zone”. This is what Amany’s dramatic journey of displacement entailed so far.

Being displaced is literally tough, Amany said.

Suffering becomes multi-layered and intersectional, even when it comes to daily routine tasks such as taking care of my children. I start my day cooking for my kids, before taking my position in the long-standing queue for the joint bathroom, which needs a lot of patience and time.

Amany spends her day performing different tasks, including; filling, preparing, and cleaning water cans. She sits under the fire of bombardment and high temperatures and in front of a burned fire to cook for her children before moving to the next task, washing dishes, which worsens her arthritis. 

The good part amid this chaos, that Amany and other displaced residents in this camp share is that they are not alone, given the support they received so far from the Social Developmental Forum (SDF) in Partnership with Shelter Box and Medial Aif For Palestinians (MAP), as she could personally utilize the relief items she received to construct a well-established tent that includes a canopy as well as accommodating the ground of her tent, to promote the living conditions inside.

Not to mention the significant impact of receiving mattresses and water gallons on mitigating the hard conditions she endures daily. The water gallons, for example, enable her to fill and bring her needs of water, and the mattresses provide a better sleeping condition for her children.

Even though living in a tent, my kids and I feel safe because we know we are not alone; the aid we receive through the SDF is a beacon of hope, which makes our life better and enables us to face the challenges we have.

Amany Said.

“I don’t expect to come back to home so. I will be thrilled to do so, but I believe it is far off. I follow the news. Yet, the operations on the ground don’t give any insight into a possible ceasefire soon”. With this being said. Given the conflicting update she receives, Amany remains cautiously optimistic about coming back to her “cozy home”.