GAZA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Ibrahim Abu Naji woke up every day on a thin cardboard mattress inside a crowded classroom in Gaza City, which was converted into a shelter. His body aches from the hard floor, and his frail frame struggles to care for the nine children and grandchildren who huddle close to him.
Outside, the ceiling trembles with every Israeli airstrike. The 65-year-old gazed at the dim room as he quietly asked, "Will we survive today?"
Forced to flee home multiple times, Ibrahim has been displaced from the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, central Gaza, then Rafah, and finally arrived at Gaza City.
"This suffering is unlike anything I've seen, even in previous wars," he told Xinhua. "There is no safe place anymore. Each time we find some peace, an evacuation order comes. We leave behind almost everything, like leaves swept by the wind."
He paused, his voice heavy with exhaustion. "I am old. I cannot walk far. My back hurts from sleeping on the floor. There is no food, no medicine, and no proper sanitation. This is not life. It is dying slowly," he said.
As the conflict in Gaza enters its 19th month, elderly residents face worsening hunger, repeated displacement, lack of medical care, and constant threats to their safety in what many call the greatest humanitarian crisis of their lives.
In her damaged house in Deir al-Balah City in the central Gaza Strip, 84-year-old Dalal al-Naji sits wrapped in a thin blanket that barely protects her from the cold. Her voice trembled as she described her recent forced migration.
"We are old. We cannot run when bombs fall. We cannot stand for hours in the food lines," she said.
"A rocket fell just meters from our house recently. I thought my heart would stop. I couldn't get up until my son carried me," she noted.
"All I want now is one night of peace -- no planes overhead, no fear that the ceiling will collapse. I want to die in peace," she added, her eyes filled with tears.
Another displaced woman, 72-year-old Naima al-Naji, spoke of the struggle to find food and medicine.
"We wait hours for a small bag of bread and a can of beans," she told Xinhua. "Sometimes I get nothing. My blood pressure is high, but I cannot find my medicine. I lie down and recite the Quran to pass the time."
Naima reflected on simpler times. "Our life was humble. We lived on bread and tomatoes, and we were happy. Now we live in tents surrounded by rubble and death. Where is the world? Is no one watching?"
"I am less afraid for myself than for the children. We are old, close to the end of our road. They are just beginning, but the road is dark," she said, clutching her granddaughter's hand.
Mohammed al-Majayda, 75, from Khan Younis City in the south of Gaza, recalled his first displacement during the 1967 war.
"Back then, neighbors opened their homes to us. Now, everyone suffers, and no one can help," he said.
Since October 2023, Mohammed has been displaced over 10 times. "There were days without food for two days," he said. "I am old and weak. There is no medicine, no doctor, no ambulance."
"I feel like this is the end of life. No one asks about us -- no governments, no institutions. We are forgotten," he added as his voice broke.
Shortages of medicine, electricity blackouts, and a lack of clean water worsen conditions for elderly patients. Many have lost family or live far from relatives due to displacement or arrests.
Mohammed Abu Jamea, a charity volunteer from Gaza City, said, "Every day, numerous elderly people come in, worn out from hunger and fatigue. Many of them faint due to psychological stress and neglect. We try to offer food and blankets, but our resources are scarce, and the demands are immense."
"They are not asking for palaces or money. They want to live with dignity. They want a home, medicine to ease their pain, and peace so they are not bombarded while they sleep," Abu Jamea said.
"As they near the end of their lives, they hoped for rest," he added. "Instead, they face the beginning of a new catastrophe. But we will not leave our land. We will die here, as they lived, even if it is on the ground." ■
