In August the Israeli Defense Force invaded the tent camp in Khan Younis where Amgad had rebuilt his tent after his family was forced from Rafah on the Egyptian border in May. Amgad and his family again lost everything that they owned, fleeing only with the clothes on their backs, as Israeli tanks ground their tent, his children’s clothes, their mattresses and blankets, and all their stored flour, water and canned food into the sand. For days the family slept on cardboard on the ground until Amgad was able to borrow a tent from a relative to give some minimum shelter for his wife and two young boys.
In Rafah there had been international agencies and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to provide some food and tents for some of the refugees. Although President Biden had opposed Israeli attack on Rafah, a city of over a million people, he had stipulated that if Israel were to attack Rafah, they needed to make accommodations for the refugee population that the attack would create. Many of the people from Rafah came to Khan Younis, the nearest city, but no accommodations were made for any of the refugees.
There were no international agencies in Khan Younis, and although UNRWA had staff and an office in Khan Younis, they had no supplies for Amgad or his family. UNRWA registered Amgad and his family when they arrived in August. Amgad wrote, “They visited me and promised to support me with a tent, mattresses and blankets, but they had no supplies to help.” UNRWA said that he should return in September for flour for his family. He returned in September, but UNRWA had no flour, but hoped for flour in October. He has returned in October, and they now said that they hoped for flour in November. Everyone is desperate for food that the Israelis are not allowing into Gaza. Because Israel is not allowing food aid to be delivered by trucks into Gaza, the United Arab Emirates decided on October 17th to air-drop aid directly into Gaza.
Screen shot of Palestinian news video of the airdrop
Amgad texted: “The biggest mistake is throwing aid, like bombs falling from the sky. The aid packet landed three meters from our tent, killing two of our neighbors. The grandfather, Aref Al-Qaid, 81 years old, and his 3-year-old grandchild, Mahmoud Sami Ayyad were killed when the 850 kg packet of food-aid landed on their tent. My children again witnessed the killing of close neighbors.”
Aref Al-Qaid 81
Mahmoud Sami Ayyad 3
This is the tent of Amgad’s neighbor that was crushed by the 850 kg packet of food now covered by a blanket.
The parachutes dropped from the airplanes were visible for miles and thousands of people came with knives to try to cut the ropes and packaging to get some food for their families. It was total chaos. Amgad tried to protect his surviving neighbors and save them some food.
I told Amgad last month that I would be going to New York in a few days to meet with government officials at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. I asked Amgad what message I should convey for him to government leaders whom I might meet. Here is Amgad’s message:
I say it loudly, with all my strength. We in Gaza are a people who love life. We are Palestinians, not terrorists. We are being killed one by one. Tell the world that there is a people who want to live, and have the right to live in dignity. We are an unarmed civilian people. Why are we being bombed everywhere and dying every minute? We have the right to play and see a future for our children, not to watch our children die. I hope the world sees what is happening in Gaza.
We in Gaza want the war in Gaza to end. For Israel to withdraw from Gaza and for all to live in peace. Anyone who can do a good deed for Palestine should do so now because we in Gaza are dying every minute of every day. We will not forgive any Arab, European, Islamic or Christian country that does not stand with us strongly to stop the war on Gaza. We in Gaza are dying. Stop the war, O leaders of the peoples of the world, stop the war in Gaza.
Amgad Al-Mahalawi
Khan Younis, Gaza,
It is now getting cold in Gaza and Amgad and his family are living in a plastic tent without winter clothes in the middle of a war zone. I feel so inadequate when I hear from Amgad, about the dangers and difficulties of his life and his worry about the future for his children. I can only promise him that I will share his stories with my family and friends and that they have promised to pray for him and his family and work for an end to this war and the occupation.
Doug Hostetter
October 23, 2024
Doug Hostetter was a Mennonite Central Committee worker in Tam Ky, Vietnam from 1966-1969. A conscientious objector to war, Hostetter did his alternative service in Vietnam.
