‘Alaa Abu Zeid

A 44-year-old father of seven, ‘Alaa told B'Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah what he and his family have been through since the start of the war in a testimony he gave on 13 November 2023: 

I live with my family in the area of Ma'an, east of Khan Yunis, about two kilometers from the border with Israel. We’ve been living in fear since the war started. The situation here is worse than in other places in the Gaza Strip, because we’re close to the border. There is shelling and airstrikes all the time. Dozens of people have already been killed in our area. The situation is very bad. I can’t even begin to describe it. The children are frightened and scream with every bombing. It’s especially scary at night, when everything is dark. You can't see anything and can't tell what's going on.  

We live with almost no water. There’s no drinking water at all, and the tanks on the roofs have run out. We use cold water to bathe because there’s no way to heat it. The cooking gas ran out a few days ago, and we have no fuel to run the generator. The food is also starting to run out, and the stores are pretty much empty. We have no flour, yeast or salt left, and we’re living on legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, fava beans and other kinds of beans. Sometimes, I manage to buy cans of tuna and meat. I don't know what we’re going to do soon. We won't be able to hold on like this for long. We only eat one meal a day.  

Because of the airstrikes and shelling day and night, we hardly leave the house. Venturing outside is very dangerous. Sometimes, I go out briefly during the day to see what's going on, and then I discover the destruction and see the people killed.  

Many people from our area have already left their homes, because they’re afraid the military will move in and the tanks will reach our homes. Some of the people moved to schools. I don't want to leave my home. They’re shelling and firing at schools where people are sheltering, too, and the conditions there are very rough. There’s no food there, and there are long lines for water and the bathroom. I prefer to stay home.  

Update: On 15 Nov. Abu Zeid told Muhammad Sabah that the windows in his house were blown off and he managed to find some plastic sheeting to cover them.