‘Will rebuild Gaza’: Death, displacement and a mother’s 2024 hope
Al Jazeera
Rania Sakallah’s family had a four-bedroom home in Gaza City, filled with love. Now their next meal is uncertain.
Rania Sakallah is holding onto happy memories. Shortly before the war started, she and her family enjoyed a day out together at Sheikh Ijlin beach in the south of Gaza City.
They stopped at the Tropical Restaurant to eat chicken pizza. Her twin son and daughter were about to embark on their final year of studies at Al-Azhar University. There was a lot to look forward to.
Now they face the bleakest of starts to 2024. Huddled in a freezing room in the southern border town of Rafah with other family members – 11 people in total – the future resembles a gaping void and the Gaza City home Rania and her husband Hazem had built together possibly reduced to rubble.
“I don’t sleep all night,” says Rania. “I lie awake all night thinking: What are we going to do? Where are we going to go?”
Rania and Hazem, an accountant with the Palestinian Authority, decided to flee Gaza City on October 13, leaving behind their four-bedroom home. “Because we were so scared, we didn’t take much,” says Rania. Carrying a few bags with clothes and tinned food, they walked the 33km (20 miles) to Khan Younis, taking turns to push Rania’s 75-year-old mother, who had recently suffered a stroke, in her wheelchair.
