Palestinian Man Walks 10 KM Carrying Wounded Son Out of ‘Red Death Zone’
(Arab World Press) - Youssef al-Dibs walked 10 kilometers from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip to Deir al-Balah in the center, holding a white flag along the way and, with the help of his brother, carrying his son who was shot by Israeli fire.
The Palestinian man said the road was rough, full of dust and Israeli tanks, and that he expected his journey to take less than an hour, but he ended up walking for over five hours.
Al-Dibs recounted the circumstances of his son’s shooting, saying, “My son went to get onions, potatoes and mulberries from al-Shayma in the north on Friday. There was an automated robo-sniper programmed to shoot anything that moved; be it dogs, donkeys, cats or humans. A bullet entered through his side and tore into his organs, damaging the pancreas, spleen and part of the colon and exiting his spine, completely damaging his fourth and fifth vertebrae.”
At the hospital, Dibs provides his son with clean drinking water, which has become scarce in northern Gaza. He then gives him a tomato, which the frail young man eats eagerly. His father explained that they had not tasted vegetables in months, living only on what the earth grows such as purslane, radishes and other wild plants.
Al-Dibs said, “There is nothing to be eaten in Jabalia; no cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, onions or eggplants. All we can find are grains and thyme. A kilogram costs 30 to 35 shekels.”
He described how the people of Jabalia, northern Gaza, live on the aid air-dropped by balloons but explained that the airdrop ends up killing up to six people a day when the aid lands on the heads of the people rushing towards it.
“Others drown when those balloons land in the sea. Life is not easy in the north. It is a red death zone,” he remarked.
As the Israeli war on Gaza Strip enters its 184th day, the remaining residents of the northern part continue to flee to the south as food is becoming increasingly scarce, in addition to al-Shifa Hospital going out of service after being destroyed by the Israeli army.