Under tattered tent… Gazan mother struggles to protect her children

In a small space behind the Ministry of Labor building in central Gaza, Umm Yahya Al-Najjar lives with her seven-member family in a worn-out tent surrounded by garbage, where daily life has become a constant struggle for survival.

She hopes only for a night in which her children can sleep without fear, illness, or the suffocating smell of waste. Rodents gather at the tent’s entrance, sewage water seeps nearby, and her children suffer from recurring respiratory illnesses due to the unhealthy conditions.

The family fled their house in Tel Al-Zaatar, east of Beit Hanoun, on October 8, 2023, and since then have moved more than twenty times between shelters, schools, and hospitals in search of safety. During the war, three of her children were injured, one seriously, and still needs medical follow-up she cannot regularly provide.

Inside the tent, Umm Yahya uses old blankets to make beds and tries to keep out the rain, but water often leaks in, leaving the children cold and wet.

Despite everything, she asks only for the basics: a stronger tent, a clean place away from garbage, mattresses, blankets, and warm clothes. Her greatest wish, she says, is for her children to sleep just one night without fear or sickness.