War has been raging in Gaza for two years now. People are shot every day, bombs light up the sky at night and children are dying of hunger – on average, 250 people are killed in Gaza every day, a number higher than any other major conflict in this century. The UN has declared it a genocide, and last week delegates walked out en masse during a speech by Benjamin Netanyahu.
But while it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of this man-made catastrophe, the people living through it can’t afford that. They have to focus on survival – their own, and that of their loved ones.
Raising a family in war: Samaa, Baha and Julia
With her home destroyed at the start of the war, Samaa was forced to move south along with her husband Baha and their baby daughter, Julia. The small family went through many traumas, doing their best to stay together. Then, at the start of this year, they got some personal news that changed everything.
“On January 1, 2025, the army decided to allow the displaced in the south to return to the Gaza Strip on foot,” Samaa remembers.
“At that time, my period was late and I did not imagine that I was pregnant because I had been late in having children for 7 years. I gave birth to Julia through an in vitro fertilisation operation, but doubt played with my mind a lot due to the delay in my period. I suggested to Bahaa that we do a lab test before I moved to Gaza because the distance is a long walk, because if I was pregnant, this would lead to a health disaster for my foetus.”
Giving birth as tanks close in
She continues: “I did a test and it turned out that I was pregnant. It was an indescribable joy. We distributed sweets to all relatives in the displacement camp at the time and decided to delay for two weeks until we were allowed to return by transportation. At that time, we returned to Gaza.
We faced great difficulty during the pregnancy period due to the lack of medicine and food at the time because the Gaza Strip was besieged and did not allow the entry of meat, vegetables, fruits and many things that are beneficial to the health of my foetus. However, we passed this period thanks to the prayers of our family for us.”
Samaa’s second child, Talia, was born on the last day of August. Against all the odds she was a healthy weight, and her calm nature enabled her to sleep peacefully, even when there were bombs falling close to the hospital. But two days before her birth, Israel had announced that it intended to move ground troops into the city, and ordered all Palestinians to get out.
“When giving birth, the displacement scene was repeated,” Samaa recalls. “I faced great difficulty carrying my daughter and being displaced to the city of Deir al-Balah again and living in tents.”
The dangers of life in the tents
Baha travelled ahead of her and set up a tent for the family to live in – but it’s far from ideal, offering no protection against temperatures that soared to over 33°C.
Although they did their best to keep the children cool, Talia’s face and hands were badly burned, and Julia got a rash on her neck. These problems were compounded by the lack of medicine and proper sanitary conditions.
“Insects and ants are always in my tent,” Samaa explains. “Every day I find ants in pieces of bread, which forced my husband to throw them away. I am afraid for my daughters from insects like ants and mosquitoes that bite their bodies every day.”
The malnutrition that Samaa experienced means that she cannot breastfeed, so she is forced to buy milk for Talia, which can be hard to find. On top of this, it’s almost impossible to get fruit or vegetables, which is seriously damaging Julia’s health.
Even water is in short supply. It costs Baha $50 a day to buy a supply for their family and two neighbouring ones – the best deal they can get.
“Also,” she says, “the sounds of bombs and bullets are heard every day next to me. Don’t they claim that it is a humanitarian area?
They are lying. Deir al-Balah is like Gaza. Every day, there is bombing next to me.”
A life of constant insecurity – deprived of childhood
On top of all this, despite the family’s compliance with the Israeli orders on leaflets dropped from the sky, they expect that they will be forced to move again as more and more land comes under Israeli control.
“I fear that I will soon be displaced towards Khan Yunis as well, because they will soon storm the central Gaza Strip.”
Like many displaced Gazans, she is exhausted by the constant moving and the sound of explosions that makes it impossible to feel safe, but she is determined to keep going for her children, to give them the best life that she can.
“By what right is childhood deprived in Gaza?” she asks. “What is my children’s fault that they should live like this? Why can’t they live a beautiful life like the rest of the children in the world?
Enough injustice, enough killing, enough genocide.”
If you would like to help Samaa and her family, you can send them a direct donation.
