A (not so) normal day in my life in Gaza

Amid an ongoing escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Mohammad Ismaeel, a Safeguarding and Accountability Officer for Islamic Relief Palestine, shares the first of his regular blogs for Islamic Relief.

I was born on the 1st of May and every year my birthday falls on a national holiday, Labour Day. This year, my birthday started with my kids, Yomna and Kareem, waking me up in the morning to give me some gifts.

Of course, it was actually my wife who’d gotten the gifts and given them to the kids to surprise me with, but I felt an overwhelming feeling seeing our children grow and become more involved in our memories and anniversaries. They insisted that we go out and have lunch together and I had a truly good day.

The next day everyone had to get up early and go to school and work. We woke up to the news that a Palestinian detainee had passed away in an Israeli prison. We expected that the situation would lead to an escalation, so everyone around began their emergency plan, which includes getting enough groceries for an extended period and preparing an emergency evacuation kit – usually a bag with everyone’s official documents (IDs, passports, graduation certificates, etc).

This is a normal thing for every Gazan because we all feel that our houses could be targeted and bombed at any time without reason. The least we can do is try to save our most precious belongings while leaving behind all our memories of happy times, hardships and every small detail in our homes.

‘Normal’ means something different in Palestine

I was at work when the escalation truly started. I could hear the sounds of explosions going off around the Islamic Relief office and I could clearly hear the buzzing sound of Israeli drones surveying every corner of Gaza Strip from the sky.

I left to pick my wife up from her work, then fetched my children from their grandparents’ house. We tried to get some bread – the main food item for Palestinians – on the way home, but the bakeries were fully crowded and people where rushing to their homes in search of shelter.

When we got home Yomna, my daughter, started doing her homework while Kareem was mostly concerned with his toys and video games. But as night fell, everything changed. We could feel that things were starting to go bad, and memories full of fear and loss came flooding back to us. I thought that we, as Palestinians, could not live any kind of normal life.

People survey the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaza during the ongoing escalation

When I first sat down to write this blog about a normal day in my life in Gaza and in the office at Islamic Relief, I started thinking that the word ‘normal’ is strange in my situation.

‘Normal’ means the sound of explosions, the ongoing buzzing of drones, the sound of military ships in the sea shelling fishermen. ‘Normal’ means not being able to travel, being deprived of the right to receive medication or education, and countless other injustices. It could seem strange to my readers to imagine that a life on the verge of totally collapsing could be the norm.

But I do not want to keep discussing such things, as, Alhamdulillah, the escalation was settled the next day and we went back to work. We had managed to survive another escalation. Every time we do, we go back to work thinking about the communities that we serve and hoping that we can continue to provide support to them.

More than half of the population of the Gaza Strip depends on humanitarian assistance. I see people around me going through the hardest of times and I keep hoping that donors will continue supporting Islamic Relief so that we can keep changing people’s lives and improving their living conditions.

Just as things were getting back to ‘normal,’ the situation escalated again.

‘Why is this only happening in our city?’

I’d been planning to submit this blog the following morning. But I woke up to my wife telling me she was working from home that day.

“What happened?”.

“Israeli airstrikes killed 12 Palestinians sleeping in their homes”.

“What?”.

I went to check the news and found that among those killed by the airstrike were 4 women 4 children. They were just sleeping in their home. They could have been anyone in Gaza. 1 of the young girls killed was supposed to be going on a school trip that day. Instead, she took her final journey. May their souls rest in peace.

People sit amid the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaza during an ongoing escalation

Later that day, my daughter Youmna asked me: “Why is this only happening in our city?”. I could not find a rational thing to tell her.

But I was thinking maybe it’s because we live in a world that is not fair. Maybe, because of the supremacy of the ever-present occupation, people get killed as collateral damage.

But I was also thinking that we are not just a piece of news. We are people who have lives, people who have hopes, people who are making plans for their next trip to the sea and their next meeting with friends, people who enjoy cooking good food, people who are extraordinary and who are unmatched.

Dreams of a normal life

I do not know if my words can convey the frustration of every single person in my country, but I am trying my best. It is becoming very tiring to keep living in these conditions and to endure all the stress, the life-threatening events, and the hardship.

I am sure there are people out there who are telling our story and who do not accept the ongoing killings and unjust treatment of Palestinians. I just want to thank everyone who makes an effort to support my people through their dua (prayers). My people feel very thankful and appreciative of any word or action people around the world do to support us towards living a normal, happy life. We know that there are great people around the world who are giving their support to Palestinians.

A life where children can go to their schools, where men and women can perform their prayers in their mosques and churches, and where families can sleep safely, awoken only by the sound of an alarm clock, or at least go out with friends to have a nice spicy Ghazzawi Shawarma… such ‘normal’ things are still just dreams for my people.

The people of Gaza are facing danger and uncertainty. Please help Islamic Relief continue our life-saving work supporting communities in need in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Donate to our Palestine Emergency Appeal now.

Editor’s Note: This blog was submitted amid a fast-changing situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which has since continued to deteriorate. Find the latest information on Islamic Relief’s response here and on our press releases page.

Mohammad is one of our new regular bloggers. Each month, he’ll share stories from his work with Islamic Relief.