An Australian family trapped inside Gaza say they are running out of bread and water, and cannot escape the continuing bombardment and an escalating humanitarian crisis inside the tiny Palestinian strip of land.
The Adelaide-based family of four, which includes two preteen children, has tried three times to cross the Rafah border to safety in Egypt, only to be turned back each time, having endured two weeks of aerial attacks, one of which destroyed their family home in Gaza City.
“We are terrified that we may not live until tomorrow,” the family’s father – speaking anonymously from southern Gaza – told Guardian Australia.
“As we speak, we are just recovering from a shocking bombing of a house 200 metres away in Al-Junaina neighbourhood in Rafah. ‘Go south,’ they said. ‘It will be safer,’ they said.
“The children are petrified – they didn’t sleep last night due to the heavy bombing and the fear that they may lose their parents at any moment.”
The family’s father said they tried to shield their children from the news, “but the radio is always on”.
“The stressed-out family members can’t hide their emotion and, whether we like it or not, my children are part of this ordeal and are subjected to the anxiety and fear surrounding them.”
He said the family was running out of medication for their son, and had dramatically cut back on food and water because of acute and worsening shortages.
“We are surviving with the bare minimum … bread is a main staple in our cuisine, but it’s an extreme challenge to find any. For water, locals rely on an artesian water well at the local mosque. We queue up for a couple of hours to fill up our jerrycans and bottles.”
He said he was running out of money – banks were shut and money transfers were not available. But even with hard currency, there was little to buy. Supplies of basic necessities were running low.
“My children do not understand the situation we live in and often ask for things – food or dessert or sweets – that we can’t provide. It breaks my heart that my children never had to ask twice for anything they want and now I feel helpless. My children now have to cope with the shortage of literally everything.”
The family was in Gaza for the first time in more than a decade visiting relatives when the current hostilities broke out on 7 October. The family was due to return home on 20 October, but had been unable to leave Gaza.
Their family home, in Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip, was levelled by an Israeli airstrike, forcing them to flee south to find shelter closer to the Rafah border crossing and outside the target area for bombardment. They remained close to the border crossing in the hope that it might open for humanitarian evacuation.
“My greatest fear is that getting stuck in Gaza is to lose my life or the life of any of my family members,” the father said. “We sleep at night, unsure if we will wake up. We are also slowly starving. I’m worried about my children and malnutrition.”
Even if they can stay alive, the family worries about lives interrupted in Australia. There are fears for employment back in Australia, and for a mortgage in Adelaide.
“My children are missing out on school for too long. They are highly academic and love to learn. I just dread the idea that they will be impacted by this situation for long.
“I am so worried about the psychological trauma my children live through every single day.”
A family spokesperson – in regular contact with the family when communications are possible – told Guardian Australia: “This Australian family are civilians with no role in the Hamas-Israeli conflict. They are caught up in the violence due to factors outside their control.
“They want to come home and ask that the Australian government continue negotiating with the Egyptian and Israeli governments to make this a reality.”
Foreign national hostages have been released by Hamas, and allowed to leave Gaza, indicating it is possible for civilians to leave the occupied territory, the spokesperson said.
The Rafah border crossing has been opened in recent days to allow aid trucks into Gaza, but only 34 vehicles have been allowed into the occupied zone. Shifa hospital had reported running critically low on bandages, anaesthetic and antiseptic.
Israel hit southern Gaza with airstrikes on Sunday and warned it would intensify attacks in the enclave’s north.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened his cabinet over the weekend, reportedly to discuss a forecast ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian media reported at least 11 people were killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, and that Israel was striking the southern city of Rafah.
The strikes came hours after the Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari called on Gaza’s residents to move south “for your own safety”. He said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would step up airstrikes in preparation for the next stage of the war.
“We will deepen our attacks to minimise the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks from today,” Hagari said on Saturday.
Gaza’s health ministry has reported Israel’s retaliatory attacks had killed at least 4,385 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, with more than a million of the territory’s 2.3 million people displaced.
Those followed after an attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, in a shock rampage that has traumatised Israel.
• In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
