'They won't let us live': Israel bombs Gaza's hope for a better future into submission

Amina Ahmed laid herself down on her mattress, covering herself with a floral pink sheet as she prepared herself to sleep.

She thinks of fond memories, of happy days from years gone by. This time, however, she was filled with dread. 

Without any warning, the 20-year-old Gazan then felt a strong explosion that shook the foundations of the house. 

"At least 45 Gazans, including 16 children, have been killed by the Israeli army, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza"

She thought it was a nightmare. She tried to open her eyes, but a cloud of black smoke filled the room and prevented her from seeing anything around her. 

"My God, what is happening," Amina muttered. Her body trembled and shivered. Screams would bring her back to reality. 

Amina tried to leave the room but everything was dark. She did not know what to do, or where to go until her brother broke the door and helped her escape. "The only thing I remember before falling into a coma was our neighbours rushing to evacuate. Israeli warplanes were circling above," Amina told The New Arab. 

Inspecting her now destroyed bedroom, Amina says, "I often dream about the day that Israel stops bombing us. Now I'm without hope. They won't let us live. Their government either wants to kill us or forces us out of our family homes," she added.

On Friday, August 5, the Israeli army launched its latest aggression against the Gaza strip, attacking a 12-storey residential building and assassinating Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Tayseer al-Jaabari and three of his assistants in the process. Dozens of civilians were wounded. 

The army proceeded to launch dozens of air attacks on military sites and residential buildings, under the pretext of belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and its supporters. 

Amina and five of her six-member family are among the 265 Palestinians wounded by the Israeli strikes in the besieged coastal enclave since the latest Israeli wave of aggression.

At least 45 Gazans, including 16 children and four women, have been killed by the Israeli army, according to the Hamas-run health ministry statement send to Gazan journalists via WhatsApp.

Ahmed Shamalakh, a 35-year-old from Gaza, felt the same fears as Amina when he first heard that Gaza was under attack again. However, on this occasion, he would be luckier. 

Ahmed received a phone call from the Israeli army ordering him to evacuate his house, he was given only a few minutes for him to take himself and his family to safety before the house was targeted by Israeli F-35 warplanes.

"At first, I didn't know who was calling me, but he broke my line of questioning by ordering me that I don't have time," Ahmed told The New Arab. 

Ahmed shouted to his family members and his neighbours to leave their homes immediately if they wanted to save their lives. "It was a race against time and death," Ahmed recalled. "We all wanted to escape, we left our IDs and belongings behind."

Fifteen minutes later, the warplanes destroyed the building, damaging nearby houses as well. Ahmed is now homeless and without hope. 

"We're part of the growing army of homeless residents who now have to suffer the arduous process of reconstruction and rehabilitation," the young man explained. "We have neither houses nor a future."

The houses of Ahmed and Amina are among other 280 building units that were destroyed by the Israeli army during the current military aggression, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Housing and Public Works. 

“The homes destroyed this time last year have yet to be rebuilt. We don't have any money left,” Naji Sarhan, undersecretary of the Ministry, said to The New Arab. 

He said that “the Israeli army insists on destroying as many residential facilities as possible in order to keep Gaza in the same cycle of crises that it has experienced for decades.”

Naji has called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its repeated violations against the coastal enclave, home to more than 2.3 million people. 

Since 2007,  Gazans have been suffering from the consequences of the Israeli blockade collectively imposed following the Islamic Hamas movement that took control of the area. 

To date, the Israeli army has launched five large-scale military operations, killing thousands of the Gazans and wounding tens of thousands of others.

Sally Ibrahim is The New Arab's correspondent from Gaza