Last Tuesday was filled with sorrow and loss for our dear friend and neighbor, Mr. Samih Dawood, who passed away in Gaza City after multiple displacements and months of suffering due to the lack of proper medical treatment. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, which progressed to liver cirrhosis in January.

Dawood was displaced from Gaza City in the first week of the war and stayed in Deir al-Balah for two weeks. He then insisted on returning to Gaza City with his wife and daughter, while his other daughter, her husband, and their son remained in Rafah.

He stayed with relatives in the Al-Jalaa neighborhood after his home in Tel al-Hawa was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. He then moved to the Al-Sahaba and Al-Daraj areas, followed by Al-Zaytoun and Al-Shujaiya, and finally “settled” in the northern Al-Rimal neighborhood where he passed away.

Dawood was receiving treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital, which was raided and destroyed, forcing him to seek treatment at Friends of the Patient Hospital and the Arab Evangelical Hospital, both of which lacked the proper facilities and treatment. He continued to receive painkillers and had excess fluids drained from his body until I received the news of his death.

Dawood returned to Palestine in the mid-1990s, having lived and worked in Kuwait before being forced to leave after Saddam Hussein’s invasion. He then moved to Yemen for several years before returning to Gaza.

Dawood’s case is one of over 20,000 patients and injured individuals deprived of their right to treatment due to the closure of the Rafah border crossing since May 7. This has left the Gaza Strip in a severe and unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with the Israeli army blocking food, water, and aid routes, leading to a dire situation where children suffer from malnutrition and many have died of hunger.

A Gazan woman described a scene of aid distribution: “We were sitting at the door of the shop where we are displaced, and suddenly three UN jeeps arrived followed by trucks loaded with vegetables and fruits. People started running and throwing vegetables to each other from the truck. We got some vegetables and molokhia. It was a heartbreaking sight; I couldn’t stop crying. People felt for each other and started throwing vegetables on the ground so everyone could get some.”

In Gaza, we no longer recognize our friends due to significant changes in their weight and appearance, as many do not get enough to eat, negatively impacting their health.

A journalist friend I met a few days ago was unrecognizable; his skin had turned dark brown. He lives with his family in a tent in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, which is practically a makeshift greenhouse, a term Gazans use to describe the plastic-covered agricultural tents used for growing vegetables in winter.

My friend described living in what is called a tent as unfit for human habitation, stripping people of their humanity.

The Massacre Amidst Indifference

It appears that Israel has decided to continue its physical extermination of all Gazans, employing various methods in its genocidal war amidst the growing fear among Gazans due to the increasing bombings and killings everywhere.

Some Gazans feel that there is a lack of international and Arab interest in the war on Gaza, and that it has turned into a prolonged war of attrition, with Israel becoming more aggressive in Gaza without global reactions. However, this is not merely a sentiment; it is the reality. This is not a war of attrition but rather a continuation of genocide.

In my opinion, Palestinians have been left alone, especially with the decline in international solidarity in recent months, and the continuation of Israeli military operations without reaching any ceasefire agreement. This is evident in the statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said, “Unlike previous operations, this time we have the legitimacy to continue fighting to the end.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly emphasized that this is the time to increase military pressure on Hamas to secure the return of the hostages alive “at a price that does not endanger Israel’s security.” This was translated into airstrikes and mass killings, as occurred during Operation “Arnon,” which aimed to recover the Israeli hostages from the Nuseirat camp last month.

The Israeli army boasted that during that massacre, 73 bombs were dropped from warplanes, 2,702 artillery shells were fired, 87 missiles were launched from drones, and 13 rockets were fired from Apache helicopters.

A similar scenario occurred in the Mawasi massacre in Khan Younis, where over 90 Palestinians were killed in a densely populated area housing tens of thousands of displaced people living in plastic tents. They were bombed with heavy, highly explosive American bombs under the pretext of assassinating the military commander of Hamas, Mohammed Deif.

Deepening the Palestinian Internal Divide

Amidst all these massacres and horrors, it seems that some Palestinians have time to deepen their divisions and the split between Gaza and the West Bank. This was highlighted by the statement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who partly blamed Hamas for the massacre carried out by Israel in Mawasi Khan Younis.

Many Palestinians viewed Abbas’s statement as an attempt by the Palestinian Authority to increase division instead of supporting the people. This indicates the depth of the crisis and the lack of trust among Palestinians, as well as the growing sense of frustration among Gazans towards the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.

Gazans point to the lack of Arab and international solidarity, and even Palestinian solidarity from the West Bank and Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have not organized any protest demonstrations. This was highlighted by claims that Gazans “attended” the European Championship final between Spain and the UK on the radio. This is ridiculous, especially since the only available radio is in Hebrew, and listening is a hardship due to the drone buzz and the anxiety of awaiting the next bombing.

As for the Arab world, there is neither voice nor image. It is clear to everyone that no Arab pressures are being exerted on anyone, especially Israel.

People in Gaza no longer hide their criticism and feel that they have been left alone for months, due to the international community’s failure to stop the war. In recent days, this feeling has resonated more and more due to the extensive massacres carried out by Israel in Mawasi Khan Younis, Nuseirat, and Al-Shati camp in Gaza City. Gazans feel that international attention is focused on the fate of Mohammed Deif, not on the price they are paying.