This is what 10 months of war feels like to a family in Gaza

Transcript

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

In Gaza, the war is well into its tenth month, with no sign of when or how it will end. NPR correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai and NPR producer Anas Baba in Gaza have this snapshot on what people there face this week.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: A man too distraught to give his name arrives at Nasser Hospital in Southeast Gaza. He'd been sitting in the street with his family when an Israeli fighter jet bombed them. He thinks at least nine people, including kids, were killed.

(SOUNDBITE OF SIREN WAILING)

BATRAWY: The dead and wounded are a constant stream here on day 292 of the war that began with a Hamas-led assault on Israel October 7. That attack killed 1,200 people and took hostages. Gaza's Health Ministry says Israel's retaliation has killed at least 39,000 Palestinians, more than half women and children. The list of those identified runs 532 pages long. More than 9,300 names on these pages belong to Palestinian children.

The Health Ministry does not have a breakdown for the number of militants killed. Israel says it's killed thousands. Hamas says thousands more have been recruited.

(SOUNDBITE OF BABY CRYING)

BATRAWY: But survivors don't consider themselves lucky in Gaza. Families with small children are living on the streets or in bombed-out schools. They sleep atop rubble and dirt, displaced 10, 12, 14 times. Everything is a struggle - food, water, finding a bathroom.

When Israel's military ordered 400,000 people to leave Southeast Gaza this week, families had to run.

NIDAL ABU ISHAQ: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: "We fled with just our clothes," says Nidal Abu Ishaq. He says, "we didn't even have time to grab food or blankets." The military launched its offensive after accusing Palestinian militants of firing rockets from the area. Khan Younis had already come under the military's control in an earlier battle that leveled the city. When tanks rumbled back in on Monday, people hardly had time to get out.

ABU ISHAQ: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: Abu Ishaq says, bombs rained down around the family. He imagined his kids being blown apart. He ran faster, dragging them through the streets. Others didn't make it. Hospital records show 110 people were killed in the first 48 hours of the assault. Kifah Qideh, a man living on the streets of Gaza with his family, blames one person for this.

KIFAH QIDEH: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: "The one to blame is the one who caused this," he says. Qadeh is referring to Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

AMEERA: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: His wife, Ameera, agrees. She says, Sinwar didn't protect the people of Gaza.

AMEERA: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: And she blames the U.S. for supporting Israel with the weapons to wage this destruction. Israel's prime minister says the goal is to eradicate Hamas, but even some in the military now question if that's realistic. For now, Israeli troops keep returning to Gaza streets and families keep running if they can.

Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai, with Anas Baba in Gaza.

(SOUNDBITE OF ELMIENE SONG, "MARKING MY TIME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.