Life in Gaza: ‘I’m raising my family in a moving tomb’

When she was seven months pregnant, Dalia had leaflets dropped into her home in Gaza at the start of the war, instructing her family to evacuate.

They moved, and then they moved again, and again.

‘Ten days passed after my due date I still hadn’t given birth,’ Dalia tells Metro. ‘The hospital was quite a distance away, roughly three kilometres from where we were. I had to walk there and back as there was no transportation – it was horrible.’

But that wasn’t Dalia’s only hardship. After giving birth in January, she wasn’t able to find clothing for her newborn. Food was also sparse and she became malnourished.

Living conditions were also unbearable for the new mum, after being forced to live in a tent with her young family – which Dalia calls a ‘moving tomb’. 

‘It is too hot to stay in during the day. Not to mention, there are all types of insects, as well as a lack of hygiene, as we don’t have cleaning detergents ‘ she explains.

‘My baby is at the age when she should be starting to teethe and crawl, but It feels unsafe for my daughter to crawl on the floor and I can’t afford pain relief for her gums. I can’t provide her with enough food, especially since my breast milk is insufficient, as there’s no formula.’

Dalia says that since the conflict began in October 2023, every essential and basic need has become non-existent. 

‘Everything is ruined,’ she says desperately. ‘Our entire life has been destroyed, and our children’s lives are shattered.’

Most people have lost their jobs due to the war, and money has all but run out. Any cash left doesn’t buy much because markets are empty or selling goods at astronomical prices. Women are even cutting off their hair as they cannot afford shampoo any more, and in September, a carton of eggs costs up to £56, up from £2.70 before the war. 

In October, the United Nations estimated that more than 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing ‘extremely critical’ levels of hunger, with 133,000 people experiencing ‘catastrophic’ food insecurity. 

However, as often is, it is women and children who bear the invisible brunt of conflict.

Amal Syam, Director of Women’s Affairs Centre, a local partner of the DEC-member charity Christian Aid tells Metro that women are being forced to eat less to save and provide more for their families, while new and expectant mothers are also at risk.

‘There are about 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with an average of 180 births per day,’ Syam explains.

‘15% of them suffer from complications that are difficult to treat due to the lack of medical care. The resources available have sharply decreased, forcing some of pregnant women to give birth in tents and unsanitary locations, which has led to an increase in the number of premature births, miscarriages and neonatal deaths.’

Yasmeen is another young new mum in Gaza who gave birth to premature triplets in April 2024 after multiple displacements and labour complications. 

‘My needs aren’t important anymore,’ she says. ‘What’s important are my children’s.’

Now, with three six-month-old babies, Yasmeen is struggling to give them the basics to survive.  

‘The formula milk they drink – Similac – is really expensive and not even available,’ she tells Metro, explaining she is looking for food to eat herself to increase breastmilk supply. ‘Nappies are really expensive. One pack is being sold for 220 shekels (around £45). Imagine how many diapers three babies need.’

Yasmeen adds that she’s also worried for her babies’ safety. ‘I get really scared when there are heavy airstrikes,’ she says.  ‘Any small flying rock can affect them. I am constantly terrified.’

As well as food, water is scarce, with many water facilities damaged or destroyed in the last 12 months. Oxfam reports that less than 4% of fresh water is drinkable, and surrounding seas have been polluted by sewage. 

Women are travelling to distant bodies of water in search of water clean enough for drinking, but also for cooking, washing dishes, cleaning laundry, and bathing children. 

‘They often have to choose between waiting all day for water or making the long trip to the sea,’ Syam says. 

Meanwhile, many women and girls are finding it difficult to access toilets to meet their personal hygiene needs, especially to tend to their periods. Some are only able to shower once a month, saving the occasion for when they have finished menstruating.

Huda, 33, used to live in Al-Shuja’yiia, but has been displaced in a tent outside of a hospital for the last seven months. 

‘Having your period with no access to water, pads, or soap is one of the worst things,’ she says. ‘I have three daughters, plus myself. So, there’s four of us [in the family who are menstruating].’

When Huda or one of her daughters are menstruating, they can’t afford to buy packs of pads (which cost about £3), so have often depended on nappies or makeshift cloth pads, which are ‘useless’, she says.

Meanwhile Shurooq, her two children and husband have taken shelter in a school in Gaza after being displaced from their home in northern Gaza. 

‘When we entered the school, I was in a state of shock and my children were also in a state of shock,’ the 33-year-old tells Metro. ‘There was screaming, and I did not know how to act. When anyone talked to me, I would start crying or scream.’

The bathrooms at the school were ‘horrible’ she says. 

‘There was no privacy for women,’ she continues. ‘In the first few days [of being at the school] I didn’t eat anything because I did not want to go to the bathroom.’

Since the war started, thousands of women have been left on their own to care for their families – Syam says more than 10,000 women have lost their husbands in the ongoing conflict. 

‘The high percentage of widows in Gaza increases the obligation placed on widows, as they suddenly become the breadwinners or heads of households,’ she says.

Zenab’s husband was tragically killed last December while trying to find food for their family. 

‘I try as much as I can to be a ‘supermom’,’ the 33-year-old mother of two tells Metro. ‘At moments I feel really strong and other moments I feel weak, feeling the weight of the responsibility of being a single mother to two girls.’

To conserve energy for her children – one of which is a newborn – Zenab speaks to no one. 

‘I am constantly worried about them, watching them when they play, making sure they do not go out of my sight,’ she says. 

Although she holds a strong opinion that women bear the cost of this war, Zenab describes it being hard to find a woman who is still ‘strong and steadfast’ to cope as the conflict continues. 

The only solutions to help women are clear to Syam. 

‘We need to immediately bring in aid, open crossings, and providing urgent relief to the population of the Gaza Strip,’ she says. ‘The situation becomes worse day by day, minute by minute. Women are fighting to stay alive.’

As Yasmeen clutches onto her three babies, she dreams of their futures, hoping they will one day live in a world without war. 

‘My life has turned upside down,’ she says. ‘I suffer with my children from everything. 

‘The war has been going on for a year, and we still don’t know when it will end. I wish my children and I would live in a safe environment where there was no war, and for life to go back to normal.’