Displaced people in Gaza yearn for peace on last day of 2024

China

Displaced people in Gaza yearn for peace on last day of 2024

2025-01-01 16:37 Last Updated At：23:57

Displaced people at a refugee camp in the city of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, shared their hardships of displacement with their families and expressed their longing for a peaceful life on the last day of 2024.

As people across the world immerse themselves in the festivities of ushering in the new year, in Al-Sadaqa camp, west of Deir al-Balah, displaced families face a completely different atmosphere, grappling with a difficult life within their makeshift tents.

Najla Abu Al-Aoun, a 36-year-old woman living in the camp with her family, yearns for peace instead of war.

"We wake up and sleep wondering when the war will end, when this suffering we are enduring will come to an end. As a 36-year-old woman, what I've experienced over the past year and four months of war has aged me to 60 years. I've had to fetch drinking water, stand in line to secure food for my children. These tasks are meant for men, but unfortunately, many women have been displaced without their husbands. I am currently displaced with my family. So of course, I'm not happy, I and others -- even the children -- pray for peace during this time," she said.

Sharif Al-Sharif shared his painful experience after being displaced for the tenth time.

"I have been displaced for the tenth time now. No one pays attention to our suffering. We have no food, no products to cook, no flour, no water. We are managing on our own. We are openly asking for peace, for the whole world and the Arab and Islamic nations to know we want peace. Enough of this situation, we can't bear it anymore," he said.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Al-Sisi, another displaced man in the camp, expressed his hopes for the day when peace will finally arrive.

"We hope to see the day when peace comes. We want to experience the peace that other people around the world enjoy. It's a dream to see peace," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.