With disparate hope, Ola Al-Mobayed: Our grandparents’ faith of displacement must not happen again

It is called “Al-Okhowa” displacement camp; a barre-waste land, where the sunbeams relentlessly burn everything. It is located in Al-Zawaida, near the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip. A makeshift tent out there has become home to Ola Al-Mobayed, 27 years old, along with her husband and their two-year-old son.

The family used to live in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in western Gaza. They have been displaced multiple times since October 2023.

“My small family shares this tent. We had to live with other families in a small apartment or a shared tent during our previous displacements. We didn’t have any other options. We’ve been displaced three times—first to Deir Al-Balah, then to Rafah, and finally to Al-Zawayda after the occupation of Rafah.”

Ola says

Highlighting their current circumstances, she adds -with a muffled voice- “The situation in Rafah was extremely tough. Things got better for a while, but it’s become challenging again. Unfortunately, we have to adapt to this situation.”

Ola’s husband works in daily labor, trying to provide breadwinning for his family. Yet, he still can’t afford their child’s needs of diapers, medicine, and milk. “The food parcel mitigates our daily expenses,” Ola says with a light smile, dressed in a simple prayer gown that has become the common attire of displaced women in Gaza.

The Social Developmental Forum (SDF), in partnership with the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), distributed food parcels to the displaced families in Al-Okhowa Camp. Ola received her parcel with gratitude, recognizing it would help alleviate some of the family’s financial burden.

Do you believe you will return to your home in Gaza? We asked Ola. She said with a unique mixed voice of humor, hope, and pain: “Our house in Gaza is still standing, with some partial damages. We don’t know if we’ll go back or not, but of course, we want to. We don’t want to end up like our grandparents who have been forcibly and permanently displaced since 1948.

Despite the uncertainty, Ola’s hope remains steadfast: “Our hope is in Allah,” she says, leaving the uncertainties behind.