GAZA CITY — Sitting on the ruins of what was his four-storey home, Hussein Shawish is bewildered how to settle his large family into a caravan.
“It’s better than nothing,” the 87-year-old Gazan told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Saturday, June 20.
“But what do you want me to do with all of them,” he added, gesturing to some of his more than 30 children and grandchildren.
Shawish’s home in Beit Hanoun in north-eastern Gaza was among thousands of homes destroyed during a deadly Israeli onslaught in January, that killed 1,400 people and wounded 5,450.
Since then, Shawish’s family, like thousands of Gazans, has been living in tents on the rubble of their destroyed homes.
The elder Gazan man was among of a few families who received one of the 192 caravans supplied by Turkey.
But the 12-square-meter pre-fabricated structure caravan, which has no toilet or kitchen, was not any how enough for his large family.
Therefore, the tent and adjacent shanty his family has been living in since January will not be coming down anytime soon.
“I can receive visitors there during the day and the women and children sleep there at night,” Shawish says.
But his youngest son Yasser, 42, has not yet received any caravan to shelter his wife and four children and he will have to wait until he gets one of the 1,200 mobile homes promised by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
“It does not protect us from the cold or the heat and there is no privacy,” Yasser lamented, pointing to his tent.
“But we have no choice.”
Indifference
Living under open skies since the Israeli war, Gazans lament over the world indifference to their suffering.
For the 22-year-old Amal, a tent “not fit for animals” on the ruins of Ezbet Abed Rabbo, one of the most devastated areas in Gaza, was the only offered shelter.
“For many months we expected that our homes would be rebuilt,” Amal, who lost two brothers in the Israeli war, told AFP.
“But no one in the world pays any attention to us.
“They are all occupied with Iran and their beloved Israel,” she said.
Israeli has been imposing a stifling blockade on Gaza’s six crossings since Hamas took over control in 2007.
With Israel blocking everything, from soap and toilet papers to construction materials, the rebuilding of the destroyed homes remains a far-distance dream for the helpless Gazans.
“This was a catastrophe,” a fuming Shawish said.
“Neither Carter nor Blair came to see our tragedy,” he said, referring to last week’s visits by Quartet envoy Tony Blair and former US president Jimmy Carter.
“We live in the street and we don’t know why.”
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