Displaced Elderly Palestinian Tearfully Wishes to Return Home to Al-Shati Refugee Camp
(AWP) - Displaced elderly Palestinian Hamdi Eskandar al-Qambarji, his wife and five grandchildren have been wearing the same clothes since fleeing their home that was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
They went to al-Shifa Hospital for refuge, where the dire conditions saw them sleeping on the floor with no services provided before they decided to move again to the area near Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis.
Fighting back his tears, Hamdi says that he suffers from numerous illnesses and lacks basic necessities of life.
He says, "I am a sick man with arthritic knees, nerves and cartilage. We came here near Nasser Hospital. I sat for 15 days sleeping in the open air until some people were kind to us and set up a tent for us to sleep under."
Hamdi added, "I have many illnesses, I am mentally exhausted, my children are scattered. My wife and I live through the help of good people, who feed us and give us water. Praise be to God; we have been asking for His mercy from morning until now."
He has been wearing the same traditional long robe (jalabiya) and hasn’t had his medication for over 60 days as it is unavailable.
He said, "For 62 days, I have not been able to shower. I live in this jalabiya. There are no bathrooms for us to bathe like humans. The bathrooms over there you must stand in line for if you want to relieve yourself. Sometimes there is water and sometimes there is no water, and the smell is disgusting. I hope we can return to our [home], to al-Shati to rest."
"I want us to return to our home. I am tired and fed up," Hamdi tearfully added.