Long lineups and 'abnormal exhaustion': Daily life for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis camp

With talks underway to extend the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, Palestinians displaced by the war say they're suffering from exhaustion, a continuing lack of basic necessities and fear that fighting could resume at any time.

In a UN-run displacement camp in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, getting access to things most people take for granted is a daily challenge, said Ismail Al-Ustad.He and his wife, Asmaa, along with their three children, travelled 25 kilometres to the camp from Gaza City and have been living there for the past 35 days.

"We suffer for everything," Al-Ustad, 35, told CBC News in an interview."You saw how it was for me to get water; it took 20 minutes standing in line."

WATCH |Palestinian family in Khan Younis camp says, 'we suffer for everything':

Palestinian family in Khan Younis displacement camp says, 'we suffer for everything'

9 months ago

Duration 1:51

Ismail Al-Ustad, his wife, Asmaa, and their three children have been living in a UN-run displacement camp in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, for 35 days. Ismail and Asmaa both say they hope they can return to their former lives in Gaza City, but are concerned about the immediate future.

Al-Ustadsaid people in the camp are suffering "from abnormal exhaustion," and he's praying that everyone will soon go back to their former lives"to see to their affairs."

His wife, 30-year-old Asmaa Al-Ustad, said she's especially worried about thetruce ending, and that "destruction will return, fear will return to the kids."

'Abnormal suffering'

"We suffer an abnormal suffering. Words cannot describe it," she said.

"It's as if our life is a nightmare. We're in a nakba... ora disaster ... allday we work just to cook a little or to find food."

Hossam Zwaida from Gaza City said the camp is overcrowded and its inhabitants are living under difficult conditions. He spoke of the political uncertainty for people "who have nothing right now in the Gaza Strip."

"Everything is ambiguous right now so we are completely confused about our future, our children, about our people," he said.

"We are suffering daily, every moment. We don't have enough fresh water for drinking. We have to move long distances to get everything. Everything is very high in price."

There's also not enough medical care for children suffering from various diseases,Zwaidaadded.

WATCH |Gaza residents struggle to meet basic needs, hope ceasefire holds:

Gaza residents struggle to meet basic needs, hope ceasefire holds

9 months ago

Duration 0:49

Families in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, said this week that they are struggling to meet basic needs even as aid flows in amid a temporary ceasefire.

1.3 millionliving in shelters

On Wednesday, the sixth day of the truce,the head of the World Health Organization called for a "sustained ceasefire." In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid 1.3 million people are currently living in shelters in Gaza.

"Overcrowding and lack of food, water, sanitation and basic hygiene, waste management and access to medication"are resulting in thousandsof cases ofacute respiratory infections, scabies, lice, diarrheaand other ailments, he said. "Given the living conditions and lack of health care, more people could die from disease than bombings."

United NationsSecretary General Antonio Guterres saidon Wednesday the Gaza Strip was in the midst of an "epichumanitarian catastrophe" and urged the world not to look away.

"Intense negotiations are taking place to prolong thetruce which we strongly welcome but we believe we need atrue humanitarian ceasefire," he told the UNSecurity Council.

At the eastern edge of Khan Younis, local people who fled their homesat the start of the war were just now returning to the city because of the truce.

"We were shocked tosee our homes, our streets, our lands, our yards and everythingdemolished," said Gihad Nabil, who was recently married and hadbeen living in Abu Ta'imah with his wife on the outskirts of Khan Younis.

Tens of thousands of displaced people have crowded into shelters in Khan Younis, but more than three-quarters of the population of the Gaza Strip has been displaced by Israeli bombardments, according to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).

WATCH | The struggle to find food at a school-turned-shelter in Khan Younis:

'The kids fall asleep from hunger'

10 months ago

Duration 0:47

Umm Al-Abd tells the CBC that there is not enough bread available to feed the kids sheltering inside Khan Younis Secondary School for Girls, and they often go to bed hungry.