After the Israeli occupation stormed the Al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza in November 2023, many patients were trapped there for a long time. Om Abdullah and her two daughters, Hala and Jodi, were among the patients with serious injuries. Hala, 10, is a smart girl who memorized half of the Qur’an before she was injured. She had a traumatic head injury that left her with a motor disability. Jodi, 5, had a broken bone in her right leg. She couldn’t walk and play.

Om Abdullah’s story of displacement and tragedy started in her home on the eastern border of Al-Bureij camp. Because this camp was in the riskiest area for attacks, she decided to evacuate her family to her parents’ house.

“I was displaced along with my family from Al-Bureij camp to Al-Shati camp, the most densely populated camp in the northern Gaza Strip, and thought we would find safety there.

“It was almost 6 p.m. on November 11, and we were preparing to have dinner together. Suddenly, our five-story house started shaking, and the stones started falling on our heads. We were being bombed.

“I spent over two hours under the rubble until the ambulance crew rescued me. Everything around me became pitch black. I could barely breathe. I tasted death, expecting not to be alive!”

After two days, she found herself in Al-Shifa Hospital. Her spine was broken, and she had a fracture in her skull.

“A hideous crime! Fifty of my relatives died. I am the only survivor with two of my daughters.”

Om Abdullah didn’t get to say farewell to her family, including her 5-year-old daughter, because they remained under the rubble. The ambulance workers couldn’t pull out the bodies due to a severe equipment shortage.

But even after getting to the hospital for treatment, Om Abdullah and her two surviving daughters weren’t safe.

“I just came to Al-Shifa Hospital to get treatment. The day after I arrived, the Israeli occupation stormed the hospital. The bombing was so crazy around us. We knew the military had stormed the hospital.”

The military ordered everyone at the hospital to evacuate, including the doctors and those among the injured who could walk.

“Those moments are carved in my mind. All of the doctors and nurses fled to protect themselves except for one doctor and one nurse. I am one of those injured patients who wasn’t able to flee because I had severe injuries and broken bones in my spine, not able to walk.

“When the doctors started evacuating the hospital, the injured patients started shouting at the top of their voices, ‘Doctor! Doctor! Don’t leave us alone!’

“We were trapped in the hospital for many days with no water or food. We used sanitizer instead of water when we needed to go to the bathroom. We performed ablution by Taimam to pray, but had to perform it with sand because there was no water.

“Due to the lack of treatment, some of the injured patients died in front of our eyes. Then, the other injured patients threw the dead patients’ bodies out the window. Worms, cats, and dogs ate the corpses. No treatments, no food, no water, not even clean air to breathe. The smell of carrion is bad.”

The suffering continued. Disabled patients were forced to evacuate from the north of Gaza to the south.

People are not allowed to move freely from north Gaza to the south. There are checkpoints.

“Me and my two daughters with severe injuries had just one seat in the ambulance during evacuation, even though I needed to lie down instead of sit, because I had broken bones in my spine. We spent from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the ambulance.

“I put my daughter, Hala, on top of my arms. Along the road, she fell every now and then from losing her balance.

“While on the road, I heard the screams of the patients asking for food and water, but no one responded to it. My daughters screamed, ‘We need food and water.’ And, there was nothing I could do.”

Editor’s note: After this story was written, Hala was medically evacuated to Turkey for treatment. However, the occupying forces prevented Om Abdullah and her younger daughter Jodi from evacuating with her, forcing the family to separate in order for Hala to get necessary treatment. Hala is with her grandmother in Turkey, and her medical condition has improved. She is learning Turkish and can walk again. But Om Abdullah and Jodi remain trapped in Gaza on their own, separated from Hala indefinitely.