Queuing for water and phone charging: What survival looks like in Gaza

As Israel's genocide enters its fourth year, daily life for Palestinians has been reduced to finding food and water while coping with loss and displacement Nearly two years after Raja al-Shawish's husband went missing at an Israeli checkpoint, she says she no longer feels like a woman. Since his disappearance, she has had to bear the responsibility of raising her children alone, from the moment she wakes up, until the time she goes to sleep. The routines that once gave her a sense of herself have been replaced by the daily demands of survival, leaving little room for the life she once knew or the woman she once was. "My husband was with me during the first year of the genocide, and although it was harsh, he would carry the burden with me and make it feel less devastating," Raja told Middle East Eye from an Unrwa classroom in western Gaza City that has been her home for around two years. "Since he disappeared, and during the starvation, I have sold all my gold - except for one piece - to feed our children. I kept the last piece for when he returns. I will sell it then and use the money to celebrate." Read more: Queuing for water and phone charging: What survival looks like in Gaza