As Israeli forces continue their offensive in Gaza, residents speak of the daily struggle for life, the fear of not waking up and the despair that comes with hunger, destruction and the trauma of multiple displacements. The UN warns that humanitarian aid is still insufficient, and international pressure on Israel is growing
In the middle of the new Israeli offensives in Gazi, Palestinians for DW they talk about living under constant bombardment, searching for food and fearing that they and their families will "never wake up again".
"We are living in hell. Security and life in Gaza has become a meaningless thing," Alaa Moein told DW by phone. He is calling from the city of Gaza, where he sought refuge with his wife and three children.
"Every day I expect to die with my children. At night I go to sleep expecting to never wake up again," the 35-year-old told us. Moein and his family fled the town of Jabaliya late last week as missiles rained down on northern Gaza amid an escalation and new Israeli offensive. The five of them are now crammed into one room with other relatives.
Apart from the constant threat to their lives, Moein's family is also struggling to survive. "We have no bread or food. We eat whatever we find, and we don't know if it's edible. We rely on plants and cook them. Everything is expensive. I used all my savings to buy food," says Moein.
The trauma of repeated displacement
His story of multiple displacements and constant hunger is common across war-torn Gaza, home to some 2,1 million people.
Farmer Naim Shafi and his family were once again forced to leave their home in the suburb of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
He now lives in a tent in Gaza City that he erected by the side of the road. "The shelling hasn't stopped [in the north], it's everywhere," the 39-year-old told DW by phone.
Israel has not allowed foreign journalists into Gaza since it launched a war against Hamas in 2023, so DW often has to rely on telephone conversations with Gaza residents.
"I had a sack of flour and I took it with me. It was the most important thing I could take when we left Beit Lahia," says Shafi. "I don't know how long this is going to last. We're trying to survive."
When Jafi returned to Beit Lahia in January during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, he planted some vegetable plants next to the bombed building where they had sought shelter. And those couple of beds with vegetables are also gone now. "Every day there is news about a possible ceasefire, and the next morning all we see is bombing, destruction and killing. I don't know where we will go from here," he tells us over the phone.
Israel allows minimal aid
Israel announced on Sunday that it will allow the delivery of limited aid to Gaza, that is, that the 11-week humanitarian blockade will be partially lifted. Because of that blockade, about 20 percent of the population in that area was faced with starvation, because there was not enough food.
Israel said the blockade was part of a "maximum pressure" strategy to topple Hamas and force the Palestinian militant group to release the remaining 58 hostages.
UN humanitarian aid trucks crossed into the Gaza Strip on Monday, confirmed COGAT, a unit within the Israeli Defense Ministry that oversees Israel's border crossings with Gaza.
The United Nations announced that Israel had authorized a total of nine trucks to cross into Gaza on Monday. However, considering the darkness, it was too dangerous to allow the trucks to move in the late hours in the direction of their destination, the UN added.
It is unclear when and where humanitarian aid will begin to be distributed to the people of Gaza. The nine trucks are just "a drop in the bucket of what is urgently needed," UN humanitarian aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Monday.
He called for significantly more aid to be delivered to Gaza.
News that the delivery of "basic quantities of food" would still be allowed spread quickly in Gaza. "It's good that something is coming, but so far we haven't seen any changes," Raed al-Atamna told DW on Monday evening from Gaza City, where he lives with his extended family.
Warnings of mass evacuation ahead of the Israeli offensive
While on the one hand they are once again allowing the partial delivery of humanitarian aid, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued their ground offensive in Gaza. The IDF announced on Sunday that ground units were operating in multiple areas across "the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip" as part of a new military offensive codenamed "Operation Gideon."
Last week, the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for parts of Gaza, including the cities of Khan Younis, the second largest city in the Gaza Strip, Rafah in the south, as well as several neighborhoods in northern Gaza. Israel claims it is issuing evacuation orders to remove Palestinians from the danger zone.
Before the last evacuation warning was issued for Khan Yunis, an evacuation order was already in effect for more than two-thirds of the Gaza Strip, ie in the Israeli military zones, according to the United Nations. UN officials have previously labeled the mass displacement of civilians inside Gaza a possible war crime.
Israel's latest siege of Gaza has drawn sharp international criticism. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Yassim al-Thani, whose country has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, said Israel's "irresponsible, aggressive behavior undermines any potential chance for peace."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also warned in a joint statement Monday that they "will not stand by," threatening "further concrete action" if Israel continues to block aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back on Tuesday, saying the three leaders were "offering a huge reward for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 and inviting more similar crimes" with their demand that Israel end the siege. "This is a war of civilization against barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved," Netanyahu said.
"Nights are the worst"
Raed al Atamna and his family are also seeking refuge in Gaza City after fleeing Beit Hanoun, a town near the Israeli border. This is the second time they have had to leave their home. The first time was shortly after Israel launched a war against Hamas in retaliation for the Palestinian militant group's October 2023 attacks on Israel.
Currently, his nights consist of moving from one corner of the apartment to another in an effort to be safe. "We hear F16 fighter jets bombing all the time. Sometimes they hit very close and the ground shakes," he told DW on Monday. "The nights are the worst right now. We just hope to last until the next morning," he said, adding that his family is exhausted because they cannot sleep.
His family normally spends their days searching for food and other necessities, and it drains their remaining energy, he says. "We have had no bread for eight days. We had one meal of boiled lentils [on Monday], but the children keep asking me for more food. They are always hungry."
He tells us that more and more people are gathering in the city, that new tents are appearing everywhere. "People just don't know where else to go," he tells us.
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