Wijdan Abu Matar, 43, was forced to leave Gaza in November 2023 with her eight children for medical treatment, while her injured husband, Hatem, remained behind.
asserted
husband → force → treatment
Wijdan and her family were living in the Nuseirat refugee camp when the Gaza war began with the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
asserted
war → live → Israel
Ten days later, on 17 October that year, an Israeli strike hit the al-Muhandseen tower, near their home, injuring Wijdan and every member of her family.
asserted
strike → hit → family
“We were sitting together, just about to start lunch when the bombing happened,” Wijdan recalled.
asserted
Wijdan → sit → lunch
“The ceiling collapsed over our heads.
asserted
ceiling → collapse → heads
Everything went dark.
asserted
Everything → go → ?
I couldn’t see anything.
asserted
I → see → anything
I just started screaming the names of my sons and daughters.”
asserted
I → start → sons
Her daughter Nour, 15, suffered the most serious injuries, including a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain.
asserted
daughter → suffer → brain
Five-year-old Amna suffered severe burns to her chest.
asserted
Amna → suffer → chest
The family was initially separated after the strike.
asserted
family → separate → strike
Nour spent about 33 days in intensive care, with Wijdan by her side.
asserted
Nour → spend → side
On 30 November 2023, Wijdan travelled with Nour to a hospital in Egypt for treatment.
asserted
Wijdan → travel → treatment
For months, the family remained scattered across Egypt, receiving medical treatment and staying with other relatives.
asserted
family → remain → relatives
“I felt completely helpless,” Wijdan said.
asserted
Wijdan → feel → ?
“There was a fire in my heart because I was away from my husband and my family was scattered.”
asserted
family → be → husband
Eventually, Wijdan managed to bring her children together in an apartment in Egypt.
asserted
Wijdan → manage → Egypt
Three years on, however, she is still separated from her husband, who remains in Gaza.
asserted
who → remain → Gaza
“I have become both the mother and the father to my children,” she said.
asserted
she → become → children
“The responsibility is exhausting me, and I am constantly worried about my husband.”
asserted
I → exhaust → husband
Hatem suffered a serious leg injury that limits his mobility and is now displaced in a tent in Nuseirat.
asserted
that → suffer → Nuseirat
Even speaking to him is difficult because of Gaza’s unreliable internet connection.
asserted
speaking → speak → connection
“When he manages to get online, he calls me and the children.
asserted
he → manage → me
He tells me, ‘I am counting the days until I can see you again.’
asserted
I → tell → you
I can see the tears in his eyes,” Wijdan says.
asserted
Wijdan → see → eyes
Wijdan has no regular source of income and relies on donations.
asserted
Wijdan → have → donations
Hatem stopped receiving a salary 10 months ago and his injury prevents him from working.
asserted
injury → stop → him
She says she cannot afford transportation to send five of her children to school.
asserted
she → say → school
“I see my children’s future slipping away in front of me, and there is nothing I can do.”
asserted
I → see → me
Nour still requires medical treatment, but Wijdan often cannot afford her medication.
asserted
Wijdan → require → medication
She sometimes considers returning to Gaza to be with Hatem, but fears exposing her children to further suffering.
asserted
She → consider → suffering
“I dream of getting my children the treatment they need, and I hope we can reunite with my husband as soon as possible so he can also receive treatment,” Wijdan said.
asserted
Wijdan → dream → treatment
“I cannot carry all of this alone.
asserted
I → carry → this
I have lost 35 members of my family in this war.”
asserted
I → lose → war
Since the war began with Hamas’s attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, at least 73,783 Palestinians have been killed and 174,738 wounded, according to the health ministry.
uncertain
174,738 → begin → ministry
Earlier this year an independent UN inquiry found that Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza.
asserted
Israel → find → Gaza
Sami Abu Tabaq, a 29-year-old Palestinian photojournalist, was forced to leave the Gaza Strip in April 2024, leaving behind his family and his fiancee, Ola.
asserted
Tabaq → force → family
“Loneliness kills me every day,” he said.
asserted
he → kill → me
“Life away from the woman I love and my family is incredibly hard.
asserted
I → love → woman
I’m desperately waiting for the day God brings us together again.”
asserted
God → wait → us
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
