Displaced people in the war-torn Gaza Strip were facing an increasingly severe humanitarian crisis as they marked a sombre Nakba Day on Wednesday.

Nakba, or 'catastrophe', Day is an annual observance by Palestinians on May 15 to remember the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes after the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Due to Israel's continued military threats, Gazans have been forced to flee their homes and head to Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis. This is a so-called humanitarian zone, as decreed by Israel, but is in fact a sandy wasteland with almost no amenities to provide basic humanitarian needs.

Living here without water or electricity, has brought back painful memories for Mustafa Gudah, an 80-year-old man who has experienced several wars in his life.

According to Gudah, his family originally came from the Hebron area in the West Bank, but had moved around the region before finally settling in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

After the most recent round of the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out last October, Gudah's family fled to the so-called humanitarian zone after Israel launched ground attacks against Khan Younis, leaving almost everything behind, except a few quilts, a few bags of clothes and some tents.

"I lived through the disaster of 1948, the war of 1956, almost all wars and conflicts. But the situation at that time was not as tragic as it is today, no one would have expected the situation today. The entire Gaza Strip has been destroyed. It can be said that all the disasters in the world have happened here. We are struggling to survive here, and the situation is getting worse day by day," he said.

"We fled from Abasan to Khan Younis, then to Rafah and finally to Al-Mawasi. We fled from far away carrying water and food on our backs. We were very tired all the way. The little food we had was rotten and everything was expensive. My grandfather once told us about the Nakba Day, and now we are seeing it happen again. My dream is to go back to my home, play my games, return to my school, everything back to the way it was before," said Hoda Gudah, Mustafa's granddaughter.

SHOTLIST:
Al-Mawasi, Gaza Strip - May 14, 2024
1. Temporal shelters, displaced people;
2. Various of children at refugee camp;
3. Various of displaced elderly resident Mustafa Gudah resting, chatting with children;
4. Various of children resting, smiling;
5. Children fetching water;
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mustafa Gudah, displaced resident (starting with shot 5/ending with shots 7-8):
"I lived through the disaster of 1948, the war of 1956, almost all wars and conflicts. But the situation at that time was not as tragic as it is today, no one would have expected the situation today. The entire Gaza Strip has been destroyed. It can be said that all the disasters in the world have happened here. We are struggling to survive here, and the situation is getting worse day by day.";
7. Children outside temporal shelter looking inside;
8. Damaged shelter roof;
9. Various of people resting, preparing food;
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hoda Gudah, Mustafa Gudah's granddaughter (partially overlaid with shot 11):
"We fled from Abasan to Khan Younis, then to Rafah and finally to Al-Mawasi. We fled from far away carrying water and food on our backs. We were very tired all the way. The little food we had was rotten and everything was expensive. My grandfather once told us about the Nakba Day, and now we are seeing it happen again. My dream is to go back to my home, play my games, return to my school, everything back to the way it was before.";
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
11. Various of displaced people cooking food, food in pot;
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
12. Exposed wires;
13. Clothes being dried;
14. Temporal shelters, displaced people.

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