FATIMA AlQolaq is terrified about what might happen to her family trapped in northern Gaza.
The Oxfam worker’s relatives currently live in Jabalia refugee camp – which has been under constant Israeli bombardment over the weekend.
While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have renewed its evacuation orders, many are lying on the ground in the decimated buildings, streets and alleys, unable to be reached or escape due to the fighting and Israeli sniper fire.
The UN says an estimated 400,000 people are trapped by the latest ground fighting and artillery fire centred in Jabalia, which has now entered a second week.
“I worry about my family,” AlQolaq told The National (below).
“The last time I was able to communicate with them, they told me they were all lying down in one room, and they couldn't move to help themselves or even eat when needed.”
The lack of food, particularly in northern Gaza, is an increasingly concerning development.
Gaza’s ministry of health warned on Friday last week that civilians caught up in the intense shelling and airstrikes are running out of food and water.
It comes as seven World Health Organization missions were stopped from accessing northern Gaza by Israel.
The World Food Programme, the UN’s food agency, also reported that no food aid has reached northern Gaza since October 1 – with an ensuing 35% drop in the supply of food to families around the rest of Gaza.
Extreme hunger and famine have consistently plagued the strip over the past year but this recent development has raised further fears and alarm bells.
But it’s the constant bombardment that really worries AlQolaq when it comes to her family.
“Night and day, trapped in that room, the sound of Israeli shells around them and people screaming,” she said – adding that she was told that an Israeli missile had even recently struck the house they were sheltering in.
“The situation there is terrible,” AlQolaq added.
“Even the process of getting out of Jabalia camp is impossible. If you stay trapped you will die. Or come out under fire and you will inevitably die [too].”
