A , 57-year-old father of five from Rafah, talked on 23 Oct. 2023 about the harsh conditions at the UNRWA school where he and his family have been sheltering due to massive bombardments near their home
We live in the a-Shokah neighborhood, east of Rafah. On the third day of the war, our area was heavily bombarded, and we saw the neighbors were starting to leave their homes, so we decided to leave too.
We went to an UNRWA school in a-Shaburah R.C. in Rafah. When we arrived, there were a lot of people already there. All the classrooms and hallways were full. We looked for a classroom or a corner to put down the mattresses and clothes, but we didn’t find any. In the end, we settled down across from the student bathrooms. I put down our mattresses and other belongings and we sat there. We cordoned off our corner with rope, so that people passing by wouldn’t step on our things. We haven’t been able to sleep at night because of the incessant bombings and the crowding, which means there’s always noise and people moving around.
We were given food and water for the first time after about three days. We stand in long lines every day to get two small pitas, half a tin of canned meat and some water for the day.
The queues are rough and exhausting. I could barely get us blankets.
The noise here never stops. People are always shouting. Sometimes they fight over water or blankets. It’s impossible to sleep. I have headaches all the time, but pills are impossible to get. Things are bad.
* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah.