KARACHI:
Palestinian footballer and referee Maha Mohamad Shabat calls for the end of the humanitarian blockade of Gaza as she looks for food and basic amenities needed to survive amid the genocide carried out by Israel.
Maha has been working with local schools and on the grassroots level. However, the devastation from daily attacks and lack of food has not only caused deaths of numerous family members but also of her students, fellow footballers, and colleagues.
Before October 7, Maha had been an active part of the football community in the Gaza Strip, where she worked as a referee in matches organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other foundations and institutions.
“Words fall short of the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” she told this correspondent as she was looking for help and describing the conditions in western Gaza, where she has taken shelter at a school.
“The sacrifices and cries of the people of Gaza are a trust we will never relinquish. The free people of Gaza endure what mountains have been unable to bear and nations have been unable to bear.”
Maha and her family have been displaced since October 2023, when their family home in Beit Hanoun was destroyed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
The IOF has taken control of her family’s land and property, and access to it is prohibited.
Despite the genocide and war that Maha has been facing for over 801 days, they have been down to starvation since March 2, when Israel totally blocked all humanitarian aid, especially food and milk supplements, which has caused artificial famine in Gaza.
Access to clean water to drink and food is becoming increasingly difficult, and when the Gazans go to Israeli/US-controlled aid points to collect food, they get killed and attacked.
Apart from food, diseases are spreading rapidly because of the lack of basic water and amenities.
Maha explained that the children and the elderly are the most vulnerable.
“I love children, and I am very sad that I could not help these poor children who are deprived of everything from their future, education, and toys. Why don’t the school queue become an alternative to the morning school queue? And transport water from distances of meters. And it goes up to the third and sixth floors of the school so that it can get water for drinking and washing,” she explained.
“Even cleaning tools are difficult to buy. This is why we have widespread childhood diseases such as lice, measles, hepatitis, meningitis, and some other diseases.”
Maha said that a kilogram of flour is sold for $50, and the hyper-inflation is adding to further devastation and deaths.
“Oh, what can I say about our situation in Gaza? Frankly, I am speechless. On this night, we are shaking from the sound of explosions, missiles, and loud bombing. We were not even able to sleep, neither we nor our children,” she further added.
“We have children whose fathers are in the war, and they don’t have diapers or milk.
Their mothers are breastfeeding. There is no healthy food or even enough food to keep them awake while breastfeeding. Honestly, I don’t know what I mean. I’m talking about the tents in the streets of Gaza City and the dust surrounding them, or about the displacement inside the shelter school.
In the universities, more than 7 families sleep inside a single 4×4 classroom. It’s divided between boys and girls.
Each family consists of at least 5 members. There are also extended families. The weather is so hot, we can’t breathe. It’s not that hot.”