Displaced Palestinians in Gaza are facing a life that is becoming increasingly harsh, as even preparing a simple daily meal has turned into a challenge that can take hours.
In a camp in southern Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Aahed al-Sawaf and his eldest son were seen each carrying empty buckets, wading through muddy sand towards a water point a kilometer away. The water point is nothing more than a single rubber hose snaking from somewhere in the distance.
"The water supply runs from about 8:00 to 15:00 every day. Most people in the neighborhood gather here to collect water, but as you can see, the flow is weak, so they often have to wait in long lines," Aahed said.
Collecting water is only the first step. After returning their buckets to their tent, Aahed and his son set off separately to look for supplies.
Aahed went to the open-air vegetable stall, where he ended up buying only a modest handful of produce -- several tomatoes, eggplants, green peppers, and cucumbers -- that's all vegetables his family of seven could afford for the day.
Meanwhile, his eldest son tried to gather fuel for cooking: discarded plastic on the ground. But there was little left behind. Displaced families searching the area repeatedly had already scoured the site, leaving almost nothing for him.
"We have to go out around 8:00 every day to collect firewood, plastic, and scraps of cloth to start a fire. This is the necessities of life for displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip today. And we know very well that there may sometimes be unexploded ordnance left over from the war buried in the garbage dumps. I can only sadly admit that we are risking our children's lives and our own just to cook a meal," said Aahed.
Heading back, Aahed and his son carried what they had managed to secure to the stove made from a metal tin.
As plastic and scraps of cloth were set alight, a sharp, pungent odor spread through the air.
Into a pot of boiling water, they added beans and onions, along with the vegetables Aahed had bought and a few pieces of bread.
For Aahed’s family, this was lunch. It was also the same meal they had been eating for days.
"Bean soup again today. I'm so tired of it. This is what we've eaten most during the war. Everyone's tired of it. We hope for some decent food," said Aahed's youngest son, Ibrahim al-Sawaf.
As a parent, Aahed understood what his son was hoping for. But he had not checked the prices of meat, fish, or eggs in a long time -- and he knew he could not afford them anyway.
Even though it was only a pot of bean soup, the family spent nearly four hours getting everything they needed, from fuel to water to ingredients.
The meal could be repeated the next day, so was the same grueling routine, with no clear end in sight.
Cooking simple meal becomes hours-long struggle for Gaza family
