NAGHAM KARAJEH

Gaza- The Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip continues to cause destruction, deaths, forced displacement, famine and deep wounds, particularly in the lives of women and children. Despite their deep wounds, women do not leave their homeland and resist for the future of their children and the freedom of their people.

One of these women is 70-year-old Helmiya Helles, who is displaced by the ongoing Israeli attacks, struggles to survive along with her family of 40 in a small room.

‘We have no access to even clean water’

“We are not only a displaced family but also souls walking among the rubble with uncertainty,” Helmiya Helles said in the beginning of her speech. “We struggle to survive on one meal a day. We have no access to even clean water. We have lost everything. Our houses have turned to rubble, our dreams have been taken from us, and even burying our loved ones has become a luxury for us. The whole world sees what we have experienced but they do nothing as if we are human beings.”

‘Women are the backbone of their family’

Helmiya Helles drew attention to the role played by Palestinian women in the difficult living conditions and said, “Women have endured the difficult living conditions that no human being could ever bear. In Gaza, women are not only mothers or wives but also the backbone of their families. Every day, they shoulder the burden of their families, providing food for their families and protecting their children. Women are the ones who first wake up in the morning and last go to sleep at night. They do their best to survive in these horrifying conditions. This war is beyond anything that we experienced before.”

‘I cannot provide even one meal a day for my family’

 The room that we have taken shelter in has nothing, just four walls, Helmiya Helles emphasized. “Our living conditions become worse in winter. Our children cry because of hunger, women are helpless and all we have is dirty water. All roads are blocked and we receive no humanitarian aid. I cannot provide even one meal a day for my family. Our children get sick due to dirty water.”

Helmiya Helles called on the international community to take “urgent action to stop this war. All we want is to live; children and women have been dying from starvation. The whole world does not do anything against this ongoing war. This war has become normal for them but it has turned into a hell for us.”