RAMALLAH, July 28 (JMCC) - After Israel's
22-day assault on the
Gaza Strip ended in January 2009, thousands of families were left homeless with no chance to rebuild their homes turned to rubble.
For over a year and half, many families have had to brave winter cold and summer heat living in simple tents, struggling to survive.
A bulldozer flattened the Awajas' house on the first full day of Israel's ground offensive, when tanks and troops swept into Gaza neighborhoods near the Israeli border.
As the family fled, bullets hit Kamal, 49, his wife Wafa, 34, and their 8-year-old son Ibrahim — who bled to death in the street.
After a brief stay with Kamal's first wife — he has two but is separated from the first — and her seven children in their tiny apartment in Gaza City, the Awajas pitched a tent on government land near Beit Lahiya. Municipal officials told them to vacate.
I told them I'm not leaving … I'm afraid to go back there, close to the border, Kamal said.
They now occupy three tents and have had a sixth child, a baby girl named Leyali...
Read more at The Washington Times...