‘Baba, this isn’t camping’: On being displaced by Israel’s war on Gaza

A Palestinian man reflects on the pain of displacement in Gaza and trying to make it.

Khan Younis, Gaza – To pick up a weak data signal for his phone, Hussein Owda had to stand a bit too close to a group of women and girls waiting in line for their turn to use the communal bathrooms.

The wait for the bathrooms can take hours on some days, Owda tells Al Jazeera over messaging, but the reward is worth it.

The media producer for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had just returned to his agency’s training centre – where he and his family are sheltering – after spending a week in the Nasser Hospital ICU with his father, who had had a serious heart attack.

“I had a horrible week,” Owda said. “You know the horrific situation we are living in and the collapse of health services. After a week at the hospital, I needed to shower and shave, and that became quite the mission.

“I started in the morning and now it’s 3pm. I had to find the water, then light a fire to warm it, then wait my turn in line. But, you know what? It’s worth it. It’s one of those things that we weren’t grateful enough for before this war.”