Gaza’s new year begins with a struggle for survival and dignity

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Deir el-Balah and Nuseirat, Gaza Strip – In her structure made of cloth sheets with a extortion covered successful achromatic integrative tarp, Sanaa Issa tries to bargain a quiescent infinitesimal with her daughters.

Sanaa spoke to Al Jazeera arsenic the new year approached, and with a ceasefire officially successful spot successful Gaza. But, lying connected a bedewed broad successful a structure with rain pouring down, Sanaa doesn’t person a immense magnitude to beryllium affirmative about.

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“We didn’t cognize whether to blasted the war, the cold, oregon the hunger. We’re moving from 1 situation to another,” Sanaa told Al Jazeera, describing a harsh twelvemonth she, and different displaced Palestinians similar her, person faced successful the Gaza Strip.

Amid worsening humanitarian conditions, the once-ambitious hopes of Palestinians successful Gaza, dreams of a amended future, prosperity, and reconstruction, are gone. In their spot are basal quality needs: securing flour, nutrient and water, obtaining tents to shield them from the cold, accessing aesculapian care, and simply surviving bombardments.

For Palestinians similar Sanaa, anticipation for the caller twelvemonth has been reduced to a regular conflict for survival.

Sanaa is simply a 41-year-old parent of seven, who has been solely liable for raising her children aft her hubby was killed successful an Israeli onslaught successful November 2024, astatine the extremity of the archetypal twelvemonth of Israel’s genocidal warfare connected Gaza.

“Responsibility for the children, displacement, securing nutrient and drink, making pugnacious decisions present and there. Everything was required of maine astatine once,” Sanaa, who fled with her household from al-Bureij to Deir el-Balah, some successful cardinal Gaza, said.

Sanaa’s biggest situation successful 2025 was securing “a loaf of bread” and getting her hands connected adjacent a kilogram of flour each time for her family.

“During the famine, I slept and woke up with 1 wish: to get capable breadstuff for the day. I felt I was dying portion my children were starving earlier me, and I could bash nothing,” she said bitterly.

The hunt for flour yet saw Sanaa determine to spell to the US-backed GHF assistance organisation points that opened astatine the extremity of May crossed Gaza.

“At first, I was frightened and hesitant, but the hunger we unrecorded done tin unit you to bash things you ne'er imagined,” Sanaa said, describing her play visits to the assistance points.

Visiting the sites, which the US and Israel supported arsenic alternatives to long-established assistance organisations, was inherently dangerous. More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed successful and astir GHF sites, according to the United Nations, earlier the GHF officially ended its ngo successful precocious November.

But going to the sites wasn’t conscionable a hazard to Sanaa’s life, it was a way that “took distant her dignity”, leaving lasting scars.

On 1 occasion, Sanaa was deed by shrapnel successful her limb portion waiting for assistance astatine the Netzarim organisation constituent successful cardinal Gaza, and her 17-year-old girl was injured successful the thorax astatine the Morag constituent eastbound of Rafah.

But her injuries didn’t halt her from trying again, though she began to spell alone, leaving her children down successful comparative safety.

During the famine, Sana’a’s top privation was to supply a loaf of breadstuff for her 7 children, amid a six-month-long blockade that prevented nutrient and goods from entering [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

Desperation

The warfare successful Gaza led to terrible interruptions successful nutrient and humanitarian aid, the past of which began successful precocious March 2025, yet starring to the declaration of a famine. It continued until October 2025, gradually easing aft the ceasefire announcement.

During this period, the United Nations officially declared a authorities of famine, confirming that parts of Gaza had entered catastrophic hunger stages, with acute shortages successful food, water, and medicine, and precocious rates of malnutrition among children and large women.

Thousands of residents had to hunt for nutrient utilizing unsafe methods, including by waiting for agelong hours astatine the GHF sites.

“Hunger lasted a agelong time; it wasn’t a time oregon two, truthful I had to find a solution,” Sanaa said. “Each time, radical crowded successful their hundreds of thousands. Some would walk the nighttime there, hundreds of thousands of displaced radical – men, women, children, aged and young.”

“The scenes were utterly humiliating. Bombing and dense gunfire connected everyone, not to notation the pushing and warring among radical implicit aid.”

The crowds meant that Sanaa often returned to her structure empty-handed, but the uncommon times she brought backmost a fewer kilos of flour felt similar “a festival”, she recalled.

“One time, I got 5 kilos [11 pounds] of flour. I cried with joyousness returning to my children, who hadn’t tasted breadstuff for days,” she added.

Sana’a sits with her children wrong their tent, holding connected to anticipation that surviving conditions volition amended successful the coming twelvemonth [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/ Al Jazeera]

Sanaa divided the 5 kilos implicit 2 weeks, sometimes mixing it with crushed lentils oregon pasta dough. “We wanted to recite a spell implicit the flour truthful it would multiply,” she said with acheronian humour.

A dense soundlessness followed arsenic Sanaa adjusted the integrative tarp implicit her structure against the beardown wind, past said:

“We witnessed humiliation beyond measure? All this for what? For a loaf of bread!” she added with tearful eyes. “If we were animals, possibly they would person felt much pity for us.”

Despite the hardships she has endured and continues to face, Sanaa has not mislaid anticipation oregon her prayers for Gaza’s future.

“Two years are enough. Each twelvemonth has been harder than the erstwhile one, and we are inactive successful this spiral,” she added. “We privation due tents to structure america successful winter, a state cylinder to navigator alternatively of burning wood, we privation beingness and reconstruction.”

“Our basal rights person go distant wishes astatine year’s end.”

Batoul Abu Shawish, 20, mislaid her full household successful an Israeli onslaught that targeted their location successful Nuseirat during the ceasefire successful November 2025 [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/ Al Jazeera]

The lone survivor

Sanaa’s hubby was 1 of the much than 71,250 Palestinians killed by Israel during the war.

Twenty-year-old Batoul Abu Shawish tin number her father, mother, 2 brothers and 2 sisters – her full contiguous household – among that number.

Batoul comes into the caller twelvemonth wishing for lone 1 thing: to beryllium with her family.

Her heartbreaking nonaccomplishment came conscionable a period earlier the extremity of the year, connected November 22.

Despite the ceasefire, an Israeli weaponry struck the location her household had fled to successful cardinal Gaza’s Nuseirat exile camp.

“I was sitting with my 2 sisters. My brothers were successful their room, my begetter had conscionable returned from outside, and my parent was preparing nutrient successful the kitchen,” she recalled, eyes vacant, describing the day.

“In an instant, everything turned to acheronian and heavy dust. I didn’t realise what was happening astir me, not adjacent that it was bombing, owed to the shock,” Batoul added, arsenic she stood adjacent to the ruins of her destroyed home.

She was trapped nether the debris of the destroyed location for astir an hour, incapable to move, calling for assistance from anyone nearby.

“I couldn’t judge what was happening. I wished I were dead, unaware, trying to flight the thought of what had happened to my family,” Batoul said.

“I called for them 1 by one, and determination was nary sound. My mother, father, siblings, nary one.”

After being rescued, she was recovered to person terrible injuries to her manus and was instantly transferred to hospital.

“I was placed connected a stretcher supra extracted bodies, covered successful sheets. I panicked and asked my uncle who was with me: ‘Who are these people?’ He said they were from the location adjacent to ours,” she recalled.

As soon arsenic Batoul arrived astatine the hospital, she was rushed into exigency country connected her manus earlier she could larn astir what had happened to her family.

“I kept asking everyone, ‘Where is my mom? Where is my dad?’ They told maine they were fine, conscionable injured successful different departments.”

“I didn’t judge them,” Batoul added, “but I was besides acrophobic to telephone them liars.”

The pursuing day, her uncles broke the quality to Batoul that she had mislaid her parent and siblings. Her father, they told her, was inactive successful captious information successful the intensive attraction unit.

“They gathered astir me, and they were each crying. I understood connected my own,” she said.

“I broke down, crying successful disbelief, past said goodbye to them 1 by 1 earlier the funeral.”

Batoul’s begetter aboriginal succumbed to his injuries 3 days aft the incident, leaving her unsocial to look her grief.

“I utilized to spell to the ICU each time and susurration successful my father’s ear, asking him to aftermath up again, for maine and for himself, but helium was wholly unconscious,” Batoul said arsenic she scrolled done photos of her begetter connected her mobile phone.

“When helium died, it felt arsenic if the satellite had gone wholly acheronian earlier my eyes.”

Batoul holds a photograph connected her telephone showing her with her family, including her father, mother, and siblings Muhammad, Youssef, Tayma, and Habiba [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

‘Where is the ceasefire?’

Israel said that it conducted the strikes successful Nuseirat successful effect to an alleged gunman crossing into Israel-held territory successful Gaza, though it is unclear wherefore civilian homes successful Nuseirat were truthful targeted.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office and the Ministry of Health, astir 2,613 Palestinian families were wholly wiped retired during the warfare connected the Gaza Strip up until the announcement of the ceasefire successful October 2025.

Those families had each of their members killed, and their names erased from the civilian registry.

The aforesaid figures bespeak that astir 5,943 families were near with lone a azygous surviving subordinate aft the remainder were killed, an agonising reflection of the standard of societal and quality nonaccomplishment caused by the war.

These figures whitethorn alteration arsenic documentation continues and bodies are recovered from beneath the rubble.

For Batoul, her household was thing but ordinary; they were known for their heavy enslaved and emotion for 1 another.

“My begetter was profoundly attached to my parent and ne'er hid his emotion for her successful beforehand of anyone, and that reflected connected each of us.”

“My parent was my closest friend, and my siblings loved each different beyond words. Our location was afloat of pleasant surprises and warmth,” she added.

“Even during the war, we utilized to beryllium together, clasp household gatherings, and assistance 1 different endure truthful overmuch of what we were going through.”

The understandable grief that has overtaken Batoul leaves nary country for wishes for a caller twelvemonth oregon speech of a adjacent future, astatine slightest for now.

One question, however, weighs heavy connected her: wherefore was her peaceful household targeted, particularly during a ceasefire?

“Where is the ceasefire they speech about? It’s conscionable a lie,” she said.

“My household and I survived bombardment, 2 years of war. An flat adjacent to our location successful eastbound Nuseirat was hit, and we fled unneurotic to here. We lived done hunger, nutrient shortages, and fearfulness together. Then we thought we had survived, that the warfare was over.”

“But sadly, they’re gone, and they near maine alone.”

Batoul holds onto 1 privation from the depths of her heart: to articulation her household arsenic soon arsenic possible.

At the aforesaid time, she carries an interior resignation that possibly it is her destiny to unrecorded this way, similar truthful galore others successful Gaza who person mislaid their families.

“If beingness is written for me, I volition effort to fulfil my mother’s imagination that I beryllium outstanding successful my tract and generous to others,” said Batoul, a second-year assemblage pupil studying multimedia, who is presently surviving with her uncle and his family.

“Life without family,” she said, “is surviving with an amputated heart, successful acheronian for the remainder of your life, and determination are truthful galore similar that present successful Gaza.”