‘I yearn for the girl I used to be’: Gaza women tell their stories
Al Jazeera
On International Women’s Day, four women in Gaza reflect on life in the midst of a war.
Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – On International Women’s Day, the women of Gaza are continuing their daily struggle to care for their children and families, and to stay alive. Four women who have been displaced by Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, along with their families, talked to Al Jazeera about their lives now.
Nada Abdelsalam, 34, sits beside her children in front of their tent, baking bread over a wood fire.
Since the onset of the war, Nada says she has lost track of the passing days, consumed by the ceaseless demands of caring for her eight children from dawn to dusk in difficult conditions.
“Women in Gaza have borne the brunt of this war. Our burdens have multiplied, and our sense of privacy has vanished,” Nada says as she tends to the fire, adding more loaves.
“Here I am, sitting on the street in a tent, deprived of life’s basic necessities. No water, no electricity, no bathrooms, no sanitation. Nothing,” she adds.
