This time, the war is like no one before. Although I have witnessed a number of Israeli wars on the Gaza Strip during the past 15 years, nothing happening nowadays is familiar. “Israel” has apparently intended to wipe out the whole city, neglecting all international laws, civilians’ lives, and the whole world’s protests and demonstrations.

“Israel” deliberately targets every inch of Gaza. It destroys complete buildings over the heads of their owners, wipes out entire families from the civil registry, leaves thousands of children either orphans or homeless, and forces Gazans to live a dreadful starvation. And the only argument “Israel” uses to justify its crimes is that it targets Hamas members hiding in homes and in tunnels. Is this really rational? Is it really justified to kill more than 8,000 civilians (the number of martyrs to date) just because you suspect the presence of one or two Hamas members in one area or another? Is it really justified to destroy the whole city and its streets because you want to take revenge on Hamas?

Gazans have not observed the light for nearly 23 days, as fuel is prevented from entering the Strip. Of course, it’s not only about lights. It is about fridges being unable to save food inside. It’s about water engines being unable to transfer water from barrels on the roof of houses so we can use them in the kitchen and bathroom. Thus, we fill water in small tanks for daily usage. It’s also about hospitals being unable to save the lives of the injured.

For nearly 23 days, all crossing borders of the Gaza Strip have been closed and Israel is still preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Strip. Gazans are thus about to experience a terrible starvation since all shops, malls, and markets are running out of goods.

Israel continues to threaten the people of Gaza City and the north of Gaza to move to the south—to Khan Younis and Rafah. Many people have already fled but the majority of Gazans insisted on staying, including me and my family, because simply, where would we go? It’s just illogical to force hundreds of thousands of civilian families to leave their houses and go nowhere. We would thus prefer to die in our houses with dignity rather than dying in the street.

Although there are just a few kilometers between me and my family, I can say that my heart literally cries out for them. I am terrified that something bad will happen to them while I am far away; I am my family’s only daughter in Gaza as my one and only sister is in the diaspora. I just can’t imagine the notion that I would lose my family any second. I think such a terrific incident would tear me apart. I am too vulnerable to bear such a news. I strongly pray for God to protect them.

This is a glimpse of what we are experiencing here in Gaza. The real situation is beyond anyone’s imagination. No one of us can comprehend how a real human could be so criminal and barbaric to do this to others. I believe that if I had the chance to kill an Israeli man in revenge for what they are doing to us, I wouldn’t. Simply, because I am a human and humans aren’t barbaric in this way.