The courtyard of Um Ihab’s family home in Jabalya, northern Gaza, once bloomed with citrus trees. On most weekends, dozens of relatives would gather for a birthday party or a university graduation. The Palestinian grandmother would decorate the house with gold streamers and multi-colored balloons, as white confetti poured from the ceiling. But when an Israeli airstrike demolished the house last winter, at least 30 members of the Ihab family were forced to flee the neighborhood where three generations had lived. Now, they are staying in a cramped tent in the yard of a displacement shelter in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, Um Ihab said. Over six months of war in Gaza, Israel’s military offensive has decimated neighborhoods, drained essential supplies and caused severe hunger and thirst. Many Palestinians have been forced to seek refuge in outdoor tent camps, where they struggle to find enough food or water. For elderly Gazans whose lifetimes have been punctuated by war, the latest fighting has compounded years of suffering under partial blockade. These days, many find…
