Gaza's fight for survival amid new offensive and hunger

At about 2am last Sunday, Basel al-Barawi was dozing fitfully in his home in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza. For hours, he had listened fearfully to the sound of explosions and shooting.

- By Jason Burke and Malak A Tantesh

Then there was a massive blast. Barawi’s cousin's house had been bombed, with 10 people inside. The strikes on Beit Lahiya came days after Israel launched a major new offensive, named Operation Gideon’s Chariots.

“They were all martyred. Only a six-year-old girl survived, and she is now in the hospital. We started pulling them from under the rubble - their features were disfigured, their bodies covered in dirt, their clothes torn. I felt my heart tearing apart as I carried them and handed them over to others,” the 46-year-old said.

Hours later, Barawi loaded his own family into a battered hired car along with as many belongings as could fit. They headed south towards Gaza City in search of relative safety. “I went there without knowing where we would settle, and I don't know anyone around me... Our bodies and faces are no longer as they were before the war,” he said.

Abdel Khaleq al-Attar had also fled to Gaza City after witnessing the bombing of Barawi’s cousins. Attar and his family had been living in a tent, after being displaced eight times during the 19 month-long conflict.