Gaza- The forced displacement caused by the fierce Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has imposed harsh living conditions on children, who find themselves compelled to take on tasks beyond their childhood to help their families cope with daily affairs.
After spending a long time gathering wood and cardboard to kindle a fire, 13-year-old Adham Nasir sits in front of a primitive stove to bake bread for his family, currently residing in Al-Doha Secondary School in the southern city of Rafah.
Nasir's family was displaced from their home in Beit Hanoun, a town north of the Strip, with the outbreak of war on October 7, to avoid Israeli attacks common to this town adjacent to the Israeli security fence. They stayed for weeks in a school in Beit Lahia town before being forced to displace again to the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt.
The town has suffered extensive destruction to its farms, infrastructure, and homes, including the home of Nasir's family. Despite his young age, Adham tells Al Jazeera Net, "My wish is to return to Beit Hanoun and rebuild our destroyed house."
Adham Nasir prepares bread for his displaced family in Rafah city on the border with Egypt (Al Jazeera)
Tormented Childhood
In a classroom whose walls seem to be closing in on Adham's family and other relatives, he was supposed to be sitting at his desk receiving education in the eighth grade, in one of the destroyed schools of his town. Instead, he finds himself a displaced person enduring harsh living conditions and sharing the responsibility with the men of his family to provide for their daily needs.
Adham realized the hardships of work early and said, "God, we're tired; we're starving, we want to return to our homes." His statement is a stark reality of warnings from international organizations about a famine facing 2.3 million Palestinians, about 85% of whom have been forced to flee their homes, with recorded deaths from starvation among them.
Despite the severe hardships Adham and his peers face, the sights of these children have become familiar in the streets, public squares, and at the doors of shelter centers in government or UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) schools in Rafah city. They stand at modest street stalls selling goods to provide meager amounts that contribute to supplying some of their families' needs for goods and commodities now scarce in the markets.
Most varieties of goods and commodities have depleted from shops and markets, which are experiencing a frenzy of price hikes due to the stringent Israeli blockade imposed concurrently with the escalating war for the third consecutive month. UNRWA says, "The relief supplies coming in from the Rafah land crossing with Egypt only meet 5% of Gazans' needs."
Work Instead of School
Before dawn, brothers Anas (12) and Mahmoud (10) accompany their father Ayman Reihan (36) to a small stall he set up with an old wooden board, near a UNRWA shelter school where his family of five members lives, with the meager aid failing to meet their needs.
Anas and Mahmoud help their father Ayman prepare a locally called "Saj bread" on a rudimentary stove powered by firewood to overcome a severe shortage of cooking gas. The elder son tells Al Jazeera Net, "I work with my father to provide for my family's needs (…) the school food is not enough for us."
Ayman, who had never worked in this trade before, found it a source of livelihood amid people's need for ready-made bread, due to a severe shortage of flour, its black market price surging to about twelve times higher, and the inability of most who are severely impoverished to purchase it.
Ayman starts preparing the bread by kneading, cutting, and shaping, then hands it over to his sons Anas and Mahmoud, who continue by flattening the dough into medium-sized rounds and then baking them on the stove, before offering them for sale to passers-by in the crowded streets of Rafah city.
Estimates suggest that more than 700,000 displaced people have sought refuge in this city, which was home to fewer than 300,000 residents before the war outbreak.
Mahmoud, who dreams of studying medicine when he grows up, says, "The school is for learning, not for living (…) life is hard, there's severe congestion and diseases, no water for drinking or cleaning, and little food, all canned, we don't know if it's good or not."
Brothers Anas and Mahmoud Reihan help their father in making and selling Saj bread to Rafah residents and displaced people (Al Jazeera)
The Pastry Seller
Not far from the displaced Reihan family from Jabalia in the northern part of the Strip, fourteen-year-old Ahmad Abu Assi calls out to passers-by, promoting pastries made by his displaced family from Gaza City's Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, where 25 family members now live in a rented house.
Ahmad tells Al Jazeera Net, "My grandfather came up with the idea; he bought a bag of flour, and the women prepare pastries at home, which I carry daily to sell in the market from morning to evening so we can buy necessities like vegetables and other essentials."
Ahmad is satisfied with what he earns from selling pastries, "I sell the entire quantity my family prepares every day… There's nothing in the country, and people eat anything because of the war and blockade."
Ahmad Abu Assi sells pastries to help his large displaced family in Rafah (Al Jazeera)
Israel imposes strict restrictions on aid trucks entering the Strip through the Rafah land crossing with Egypt, which hinders their faster flow and in sufficient quantities. At the same time, Israel continues to close the only commercial crossing, Kerem Shalom, preventing the import of goods and commodities to the small coastal enclave.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reports that thousands of displaced people arriving in Rafah are experiencing conditions of extreme overcrowding, with over 12,000 individuals per square kilometer, and are suffering inhumane conditions that amount to tragedy.
The Geneva-based human rights monitor warns of the dangers of Israel's plans to turn forced displacement into a fact on the ground, leaving the displaced vulnerable to increased risks of disease, epidemics, and hunger.
