Gazans’ fear of being forgotten

The Middle East in recent days continues to become the focus of world attention, but not in the Gaza Strip but on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Tensions escalated after a series of explosions of communication equipment by Hezbollah forces in Lebanon on September 17-18, killing at least 39 people and injuring about 3,000 people. The armed group accused Israel of being the culprit, but Tel Aviv did not deny or confirm.

Next was a series of mutual attacks between Israel and Hezbollah in recent days, culminating in a large-scale Israeli airstrike on eastern and southern Lebanon on September 23, leaving more than 500 people dead and injured. More than 1,800 people were injured.

Nezar Zaqou is one of 1.9 million Palestinians who had to leave their homes in the Gaza Strip after the conflict broke out in October 2023. He fears that the Israel-Hezbollah war will make people stop caring about the current poor living conditions in the strip of land and making efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.

“We are completely forgotten. There is no news about us in the media,” said Zaqou, who lives in Khan Younis after fleeing Gaza City a few months ago.

According to Gaza health authorities, the Israeli campaign has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead and about 95,000 injured. More than half of the dead were women and children.

Many residential areas in Gaza were flattened after intense raids. Satellite image analysis shows that nearly 60% of the buildings here may have been damaged. About 90% of Gazans are currently homeless, hundreds of thousands of people have to live in unsanitary tent camps, struggling to find food and clean water. Palestinians fear this situation will never end.

“After a year, no one cared about us anymore. Every day we were hit by bombs, there were always people dead and injured,” said Saadi Abu Mustafa, who fled Khan Younis to live in the Muwasi tent camp along Gaza’s southern coast, said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration vowed to completely destroy Hamas forces in Gaza, after the armed group launched a campaign to attack Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 people. Israel estimates that 70-100 hostages are believed to still be alive in Gaza.

Not only the Palestinian people but also the hostages’ relatives expressed concern about the risk that Gaza will no longer receive the same attention as before.

“What I’m most worried about is that all the attention of domestic and world public opinion is shifting to northern Israel. In the end, the hostages will be abandoned, with no one coming to rescue them,” said Udi Goren, who Relatives of Tal Haimi, an Israeli citizen murdered on October 7, 2023, said.

As the risk of a full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government reduced its military presence in the Gaza Strip and moved key units to the northern border with Lebanon.

However, thousands of Israeli soldiers remained in the area and conducted individual raids, leaving Palestinian refugees unable to return home. Daily Israeli air strikes continue, with an attack on a school used as a shelter in northern Gaza on September 21, killing at least 22 people and injuring 30 people.

In Muwasi, a humanitarian zone designated by Israel, life for refugees, already difficult, has become even worse after the rains. Children had to wade barefoot through ankle-deep mud, while adults struggled to dig through the mud in search of furniture and canned food.

“The kitchen is completely flooded. We don’t know what to do anymore, winter is starting. What will the next days be like?”, said Rana Gozat, a refugee from Gaza City.

Others complained about harsh living conditions, calling on international organizations to help keep public attention on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “We hope everyone will pay attention to us and see what we have done,” said Enas Kollab, a refugee from northern Gaza.

Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel needs to maintain forces in two areas in Gaza to ensure that Hamas cannot rearm, while this force announced that it will not accept any agreement that allows Israeli troops to stay. strip of land.

Hopes of reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip became even dimmer when the US, an important intermediary in the negotiation process, seemed unable to convince close ally Israel. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken only went to Egypt during his visit to the Middle East last week.

It is unclear what the Gaza Strip will look like after the fighting ends, but what is certain is that the reconstruction process will take decades. The United Nations estimates it will take at least 15 years just to clean up about 40 million tons of rubble in this place.