Terrified, starving, crushed: The agonising death of my grandfather in Gaza
Al Jazeera
My grandfather survived the first Nakba in 1948; he didn’t make it to the end of the second – this war waged by Israel.
“Have me buried at the back corner of the house if the cemetery runs out of space.”
That was my grandfather Atiyah’s declared wish decades before the war on Gaza began in October last year. He knew, even then, that burying him after his death would be a challenge.
Since October 7, 2023, when Israel unleashed its continuing, relentless bombardment on the Gaza Strip, my grandfather’s health had been deteriorating. It got markedly worse during each Israeli ground invasion of Jabalia in northern Gaza, our home.
The siege on the northern part of the Strip, which has endured since the start of the war and has effectively cut the north off from the south, meant he never had the chance to recover between those deadly moments.
The drinking water ran out and the food we had to offer him was merely a few morsels. He couldn’t use the toilet for 10 consecutive days because he was so weak he couldn’t move, and that slowly destroyed his digestive system.
