Opinion: One year on, this war is changing us all

Since the 1948 Nakba, the tent has been a central symbol of the Palestinian narrative, representing displacement and a life of misery. 

Tents are meant to be temporary shelters in times of conflict, as we wait and hope that the tragedy will end soon. A prolonged tent life, however - as we have seen since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza a year ago - suggests that this hope has been shattered.

From the outset of this war, it was clear that mass displacement was a key part of Israel’s plan. The Israeli government swiftly urged hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes, instructing those in the north to flee south.

As the army’s massacres intensified, including the destruction of entire residential blocks and the bombing of “safe” zones such as hospitals and schools, displaced people were forced to flee over and over again. Residents of Khan Younis flooded Rafah, only to return again to a destroyed Khan Younis.

Everywhere the army entered, it left a widespread path of destruction in its wake. Around two-thirds of all buildings in Gaza have been damaged or razed in the ongoing Israeli bombardments.

Many Palestinians have lost everything they owned: homes, land, furniture, businesses. They have suddenly found themselves with nothing but a tent, a few blankets and mattresses, and some simple tools they salvaged from the rubble of their homes. 

But even obtaining a tent can be a difficult task, due to the limited quantities and sheer numbers of displaced Palestinians in Gaza. Some have instead taken refuge in schools, where education has been disrupted for the second year in a row, or on small pieces of land demarcated by strips of cloth.

Read more: One year on, this war is changing us all by Ahmed Abu Artema