A pet, a blanket, a laptop: Precious things displaced Gazans hold on to

Forced to choose a select few items while running for their lives, Gazans in Israel’s brutal war have moved from one shelter to another, carrying whatever little they could- essentials like phones, passports, birth certificates and money – leaving their homes behind.

Alongside these basics are cherished belongings that hold irreplaceable value – a photograph of a loved one, Islam’s holy book The Quran passed down by a grandparent, pets or a favourite stuffed toy.

“We received a phone call from the Israeli army a couple of weeks after October 7th ordering the residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to move to the South,” Zaena Shaath, an American-Palestinian, told TRT World.

Shaath was born in Gaza and acquired her American nationality from her father, who dedicated his career to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza, meaning she has never resided in the US.

“They ordered us to leave our home for our own safety. It wasn’t an easy decision, I remember that my father asked us to take the most important things like some clothes and documents. I expected that it would last for a couple of days, not five months”.

The 23-year-old expressed her dilemma, recounting the difficulty of deciding what to take with her as she faced displacement. Each item in her room held significance and memories, making the choice even harder.

With less than 5-6 hours at hand and limited space in her suitcase, she prioritised essentials like her laptop, university certificate, documents, and mobile phone.

Accessories and cherished photos followed, each holding precious memories. The rings, gifts from friends, held sentimental value. Ultimately, she had to leave behind nearly everything else.

“I took a last look at my room, my bed, and our house. I left home with mixed feelings of sadness and fear. We moved south through the Salah Al Din Road which the Israeli forces claimed was a safe route, the road was scary,” she said.

“We arrived at Deir Al Balah, in central Gaza. It was the first time I saw my dad unable to decide where we should go, fortunately a friend of dad invited us over to his house. It was God’s intervention”.

After a few hours Zena’s family reached Rafah.

“It was difficult for me to adapt myself to this new life in Rafah away from home, but over time I learned many things, things I never did in Gaza, I learned to light firewood, to bake, to fill water, to cook, life is not easy, we have to do a lot to meet our needs right now”.

After a couple of weeks, Zena and her family’s names was listed in the US evacuation list.

“And again, I packed my bag and put in all the things which I brought with me from Gaza since we vacated home, the documents, the certificates, my laptop, my accessories and photos. I was torn between the feelings of wanting to leave and wanting to stay.”

Omar Ahed, 19, currently residing in Rafah, recounts vacating his family's apartment in Gaza City in October and relocating south to a shelter building in central Khan Younis alongside many other displaced families from Gaza.

The ordeal intensified as they spent almost two months in Khan Younis before being abruptly compelled to move to Rafah upon receiving recorded warnings on their mobile phones from the Israeli army.

In Rafah, Omar found himself among nearly 50 others in a cramped living space, where everyday tasks like cooking, charging phones, obtaining food, accessing water, and using the toilet became daunting.

“During the stages of our displacement, I only cared for Bella, my dog. It was a gift from my dad on my 18th birthday.

Bella is naughty and hyperactive. She had a beautiful dog’s house on the roof of our building in Gaza. I took good care of her, I fed her, played with her and also took her for walks.

“The day my dad decided that we were going south, I held her in my arms and promised her not to abandon her ever.

“She suffered like us, she heard the explosions, she suffered from a lack of food. I see sadness in her eyes, but she is the only one who gives me strength to continue to live.”

Upon waking to the sounds of successive explosions late on October 7, Zahra Jubber and her family discovered that an Israeli missile had struck a neighbouring building in their Gaza neighbourhood.

Concerned only for the safety of her children Hatem, 8, and Eleen, 2, as well as her husband Mohamed, they rushed downstairs in shock, unsure of where to seek refuge.

Jubber observed Eleen crying and clutching her blanket tightly; Eleen had formed a strong attachment to her blanket since she was six months old, using it to cover her face and holding onto it so tightly that Zahra found it impossible to wash unless Eleen was asleep.

“On the same day we vacated Gaza, I was surprised that as much as Eleen was scared and trembling, she was thinking about her blanket and wrapping it around her small body like she always used to do. Whenever Eleen hears a bombing now, she runs into my arms and hides in her little blanket,” Jubber told TRT World.

“I realised that her blanket makes her feel safe and assured. We moved to more than one place in Gaza City, we were displaced inside Gaza, and finally, we settled in Rafah, which was designated a safe humanitarian area by the Israeli army, ”

“We ran away from Gaza with a couple of outfits, we literally fled with almost nothing. Fear makes you confused and unable to concentrate, we left everything in Gaza, our life, our memories and our home”.

From being ordered by the Israeli army to move from Gaza to Wadi Gaza, leading some to relocate to Nussayrat, Bureij, Zawayda, and others to southern Gaza (Khan Younis and Rafah), Palestinians now face another potential round of displacement in Rafah.

Despite being initially designated as a humanitarian safe zone, where many Palestinians reside in makeshift tents under dire conditions, Rafah is now under threat of Israeli ground invasion amidst heavy air strikes and artillery bombardments.

But despite their exhaustion and the prospect of further hardship, some Palestinians cannot bear the thought of leaving again, determined to cling to their makeshift tents and belongings, even in the face of grave danger.

“I just can’t believe what me and my family have been going through since October,” Mohamed Masharawi, a Gaza resident told TRT World.

“We are sheltering in Rafah, that very same area which Israel claimed safe, yet I'm afraid we will be requested to vacate Rafah soon. Everybody in Rafah is worried, and thinking where would they go? Is it better to die?”