Families of Gaza torn apart, north and south
96% of children in Gaza feel that their death is near, and half of them wish for it, according to a study published by the British newspaper The Guardian. Here, we share the story of Aisha, one of these children.
I thought it was an exaggerated story until I heard it directly from my cousin, Aisha’s mother. Aisha is a six-year-old girl who was forced to flee with her grandparents at the end of last year from Shujaiya. Her mother doesn’t know how it happened, but the horror of displacement and the intensity of the fire zones caused the family to separate. She never imagined that her separation from her daughter would last for months in this war.
The little girl fled with her grandfather and grandmother to a school in the southwest of the city, which was stormed by occupation soldiers who forced them to move further south in Gaza. Aisha walked the painful journey of Gaza on foot, leaving behind her mother, father, and younger siblings.
The story didn’t end there. In the south, the Israeli occupation targeted the place where they sought refuge, injuring her grandfather. Her grandmother had to travel with her grandfather to Egypt for treatment, but Aisha was not allowed to travel with them. She had to stay with some relatives in the south.
After months of appeals and communication with various international organizations, the Red Cross was able to reunite the girl with her mother after a long, harsh, and painful separation. Though Aisha returned, the impact of what she went through seems deeply etched in her. Her mother summarized it, saying, “Since my daughter came back after months of separation, she hasn’t been acting normally. I can’t explain it, but I feel that something between us has broken.”
Aisha’s story is no longer unusual here. It has become a daily reality in a world witnessing genocide live on TV but denying it because its conscience cannot bear such enormity.
The war has caused a fracture in the community. That wife traveled with her family to Egypt while her husband and children remained in northern Gaza. That young man stayed with his family in Jabalia while his wife and children fled to the south. One family’s men stayed in the north while its women were displaced to Rafah. Another family, forced out of the Al-Shifa hospital, sent their two boys, aged 13 and 14, to the south while the rest of the family—the father, mother, and sisters—stayed in the north.
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Countless stories emerge daily. Here’s a young woman engaged to a man who has disappeared—no one knows if he is alive, imprisoned, or a martyr buried in a mass grave. She doesn’t know what to do. A man lost his wife to martyrdom and was then arrested by the occupation forces, leaving his children to live with neighbors because there’s no other option. A pregnant displaced woman with an imprisoned husband. Thousands of elderly people have lost their children and grandchildren and are left without support in these dire circumstances.
The ongoing war in Gaza has left deep scars on the social fabric of the region, causing unimaginable family separations and fractures. This war has inflicted wounds not just on buildings but on all aspects of daily life. The war, which has persisted for more than a year, carries long-term consequences for current and future generations.
The war has disrupted significant portions of the social structure—not just extended families but even nuclear families. Families now live in a state of internal displacement under inhumane conditions that fail to meet even the most basic human needs. These harsh conditions have weakened familial and social ties. Daily communication, once a normal part of life, has become a challenge in the face of displacement and forced migration, affecting more than two million people in Gaza.
We cannot ignore the social impact of the massive number of victims. Gaza has become a city of widows and orphans, with around 17,000 children having lost one or both parents during the war. Widowed men and women alike face unimaginable daily challenges, with a single family member often bearing the responsibility of supporting an entire household under severe conditions. Orphaned children face an uncertain future, left only with tragic memories and deprived of the familial warmth and care they should have grown up with.
A friend of mine tells me his wife was displaced to the south while pregnant, while he remained in the north for work. His son was born in February 2024 and is now nine months old. My friend is heartbroken that he hasn’t been able to hold his son even once, despite being less than 15 kilometers away. He hasn’t experienced any part of his son’s life so far. What’s worse is not knowing when this pain will end or when he will finally be able to hold and kiss his son for the first time.
The destruction caused by the occupation in Gaza isn’t limited to vital facilities and infrastructure like hospitals, schools, roads, water networks, sewage systems, public parks, libraries, children’s centers, water wells, and trees. It also includes the systematic dismantling of Gaza’s social infrastructure in ways that are immeasurable. This devastation will have direct and indirect impacts on social life and family cohesion in Gaza for decades—if any families survive to bear the burden of these consequences.