Gazans crowd schools in search of shelter
Gaza's civilians have nowhere to hide from Israeli strikes, causing over 100,000 residents to flee to UNRWA centers.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Umm Rami al-Shaiwa keeps trying to calm her four children, who scream and cry whenever they hear the sound of Israeli aircraft bombing the houses around them. She takes simple safety measures, hoping to protect her children from Israeli bombs.
Shaiwa, who lives in al-Daraj neighborhood in central Gaza City, said, “Whenever I hear the sound of an Israeli plane, I think that it will drop its bombs over our heads and turn us into charred bodies at any moment.”
She told Al-Monitor that she tries to keep her children next to her at all times and tell them fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White to take their minds off the bloody scenes surrounding them. She also puts cotton in their ears to muffle the bombing noise.
“These measures usually don’t succeed because of the intensity of the endless bombing. So I tell my kids that this is the sound of fireworks from the neighborhood celebrating the nights of Ramadan. But the repetitive bombing quickly makes them cry again,” she said.
