Gazan family who fled Israeli bombing eat first cooked meal in three weeks

A Gazan family who fled their home to avoid Israeli bombardment have described the conditions at a refugee camp.

A large number of Palestinians have fled their homes as Israel began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, following Hamas’s deadly incursion on October 7.

Mohamed Zaki al-Saidi and his children were displaced from their home in al-Zahraa city, and they’re currently living in a camp in Khan Younis, near Nasser hospital.

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He’s described the conditions in the camp as dire, and on Sunday he and his family ate their first cooked meal in 22 days.

Mohamed was able to buy turkey and rice after setting up a small beverages cart where he sells honey drinks to earn 10-20 shekels per day.

Mohamed explained: ‘Here there is no income. No one gave us aid, no coupons (UNRWA food coupons), no financial aid. The situation is very bad.

‘So, I thought of doing something from nothing. I started a project with 50 shekel. If we get 20 shekels. We sell custard with honey.

Mohamed Zaki al-Saidi and his family ate their first cooked meal in more than two weeks (Picture: Reuters)

People have started selling items to try and make money for food and other essentials in the camp (Picture: Reuters)

Conditions at the camp are poor (Picture: Reuters)

‘We have to do this because the situation is difficult. If you do not work you die. May god help everyone.

‘This is our first meal (since being displaced) to be able to cook rice and meat over a fire, and I was able to do this by selling custard with honey in small cups. My children helped as well.

‘Today I cooked, went to the market and got turkey and I cooked a meal for them over the fire.

‘This is the first meal since they bombed al-Zahraa city and we fled. This is the first day we eat a cooked meal.

‘We miss bread to be honest. Our situation is very bad.’

Mohamed also described the living conditions at the camp, with each family only having a two metre space, in the open with no cover or protection from the elements.

He fears for the impact of the bombings on his children, adding: ‘The children’s situation is bad because of the terror they have seen from the bombing of houses over them and the killing of civilians and children.

‘Thank god we are in our country in Gaza, our homeland. But the situation over the past 22 days from bombing, destruction, homelessness, hunger, has made me sit by this fire to cook for our children because the situation is very bad.

‘We heat water on fire, cook on fire, find wood from here and there. We buy water for two shekels, our situation in the tent as you saw without mattresses or anything.

‘You saw in the tent we have no mattresses. I have two women, children and men without anything.’

Smoke rises from nearby Israeli strikes as seen from the camp (Picture: Reuters)

The residents of the camp have very limited resources (Picture: Reuters)

Others have taken up jobs in the camp, including barber Bilal Abu Mustafa whose barber shop was bombed.

Bilal explained: ‘I used to own a shop but it was bombed. It was bombed from the second day and after I came to the hospital here.

‘I took my kit with me. The original kit was broken. This is an alternative kit. Using a phone charger for the razor. I connected them and used them. Thank god.

‘We shave so they can change their mood after what we passed through and are still passing through and I don’t charge a lot of money. They pay what they can.’

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Palestinians in Gaza reported fierce air and artillery strikes on Monday (October 30) as Israeli troops backed by tanks pressed into the enclave with a ground assault that prompted more international calls for civilians to be protected.

Israel’s military said it had struck over 600 militant targets over the past few days as it continued to expand ground operations in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian civilians are in dire need of fuel, food and clean water as the conflict enters its fourth week.

Medical authorities in Gaza, which has a population of 2.3 million people, said on Sunday 8,005 people – including 3,324 minors – had been killed.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

‘The children’s situation is bad because of the terror they have seen from the bombing of houses over them and the killing of civilians and children.’