Half-life, half-house: Portrait of a Palestinian family after Israeli raids

Tulkarem, occupied West Bank – In the bosom of the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem exile camp, successful the Hammam neighbourhood that is simply a predominant people of Israeli raids, stands the location of 36-year-old erstwhile constabulary serviceman Akram Nassar and his 2 children.

The thoroughfare starring to the location is littered with rubble, breached pipes and different debris, and sewage flows down its side.

Closer to the house, Akram’s 2 sons, five-year-old Rahim and four-year-old Bara, appear. Bara is successful shorts and a T-shirt successful the mild, mid-September weather.

They are disposable from the thoroughfare due to the fact that the full beforehand partition – and a bully chunk of the broadside partition – of their location is missing aft Israeli raids tore them off.

Their exposed beforehand country is barren – but for 2 reddish integrative chairs; a azygous grey armchair; an aged machine show without its casing; and a black-framed reflector hanging connected the damaged interior door.

The level tiles are broken, determination is particulate and rubble everywhere.

The tiles connected the 2 remaining walls connection a glimpse of what the location whitethorn person looked similar and however it was cared for successful the past.

On September 2, an Israeli worker utilized a bulldozer to destruct the facade of Akram’s house, similar respective others connected the street.

Akram’s hardly lasting house, with nary of the privateness oregon extortion the thought of location conjures, fits successful with the devastated scenery of Tulkarem.

Since October 7, the Israeli military’s “counter-terror” raids person damaged oregon destroyed astir dwellings and infrastructure successful the exile camp.

Every 1 of Tulkarem’s galore constrictive alleys is lined with houses and shops missing walls, doors oregon windows.

Many buildings are wholly uninhabitable. Some families, similar Akram’s, effort to past successful the ruins of their homes, not knowing what the adjacent raid volition bring.

Akram appears successful the beforehand room, carrying 2 integrative buckets. He steps retired with his 2 boys and they locomotion to the country to fetch immoderate h2o from a vessel donated by the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee.

Akram Nassar and his children transportation h2o to their location from a adjacent h2o tank, successful Tulkarem exile camp, occupied West Bank, September 16, 2024 [Al Jazeera]

When they get back, Akram goes into the tiny room to marque immoderate coffee, the odor of burning inactive lingers successful the aerial and scorch marks are disposable connected the walls.

Coffee is simply a uncommon luxury they could inactive bask successful their home, Akram says. “Coffee is casual to make, I tin inactive hole it successful my destroyed kitchen,” helium says.

“As for meals, we usually devour astatine my mother’s house, conscionable … successful the alley other our house.”

Akram and his woman separated 3 years ago, and helium has kept the children.

As helium brewed java connected a single-burner electrical stove, helium reflects connected the disarray astir him.

“The concern forces didn’t permission a azygous happening untouched,” helium says.

They deliberately destroyed everything, adjacent the simplest room items, conscionable to marque definite we suffer everything.”

He nary longer cleans up the rubble oregon tries to hole breached walls, helium says, arsenic helium assumes his location volition instrumentality further harm successful different raid soon.

As Akram speaks, Bara rummages done a heap of apparel and different ruined belongings, looking for thing to play with.

After a while, helium lets retired a jubilant scream: “I recovered 1 of my toys!” and runs astir holding a small, colourful stuffed feline made to beryllium hung successful a mobile implicit a cot oregon connected a pram.

Holding connected to the small grip connected its head, Bara is excitedly waving the feline around.

“Rahim and Bara utilized to walk astir of their clip playing, but adjacent their play has changed now,” Akram says.

“They mislaid astir of their toys and belongings. They nary longer person immoderate colouring pencils oregon drafting notebooks.”

He points to 2 birds chirping successful a cage hung connected the wall. “These 2 birds are the lone things near from their beingness earlier the devastation,” helium says. “My children mislaid everything, but for these birds.”

Akram makes java successful his damaged room arsenic children play, successful their home, September 16, 2024 [Al Jazeera]

As Akram sits down with his coffee, the children statesman gathering vertebrate provender from the floor, it was scattered astir the location by Israeli soldiers during their latest raid.

“The birds survived, adjacent though the location was filled with fume aft the broadside country was blown up,” Akram says. “They’re witnesses to the demolition of everything wrong this house.”

‘Let our begetter go!’

That demolition has been wrought implicit repeated raids since a raid by Israeli forces successful March.

“That time the service was destroying everything successful the camp, and the dependable of explosions kept getting closer,” Akram recounts.

He feared the service would detain each the men similar it had done successful Nur Shams campy a fewer days earlier, truthful helium sneaked into his mother’s location with his children.

“Suddenly, the doorway to my mother’s location was blown open, and soldiers equipped to the teeth stormed in. They instantly started breaking everything. They bushed me, and past arrested me.”

Rahim, who had been listening to his father’s relationship closely, jumps to his feet. “They deed him with their guns and tied his hands,” helium exclaims, reliving the country of his father’s assault.

Akram’s apprehension was the astir hard portion of his full experience, helium says, due to the fact that of the panic it inflicted connected his children.

“The children clung connected to me, screaming, ‘Let our begetter go!’ But the soldiers ignored their cries.”

The children tried to travel their begetter and the equipped soldiers, but their grandma held connected to them and brought them backmost into the house.

Akram says helium remained nether apprehension successful a make-shift detention campy acceptable up successful a adjacent tract until the pursuing day.

After his release, helium could not get backmost location for different day, arsenic the Israeli soldiers had surrounded the Tulkarem campy and were not letting anyone in.

Since that day, Akram has been taking the children to their grandmother’s location whenever determination is simply a raid nearby.

His mother’s location has besides been damaged, its contents and beforehand doorway vandalised, but it is inactive successful amended information than Akram’s.

Being adjacent their grandma comforts and calms the children, helium adds.

While the raid successful March was possibly the astir traumatic for his family, Akram’s location sustained the worst harm successful September, during an Israeli raid – dubbed “Summer Camps” – connected exile camps successful the northbound of the occupied West Bank, including Tulkarem.

It was past that an Israeli D9 bulldozer demolished the beforehand partition of Akram’s location and levelled an full room, leaving the location wholly exposed.

Soldiers attacked everyone and everything they laid eyes on, helium says, and razed respective houses astir their own.

“When the bulldozer reached our neighbourhood, we were astatine my mother’s house. The dependable of the demolition and the instrumentality felt similar an earthquake shaking the camp,” helium recounts.

As helium does aft each raid, helium rushed location aft erstwhile the concern calmed, lone to spot that astir of the gathering had been reduced to rubble.

This broadside country successful the family’s location was destroyed during the Israeli military’s past incursion into the campy connected September 11, 2024. Photo captured September 19, 2024 [Al Jazeera]

“Less than 10 days aft that archetypal demolition [on September 11], the service blew up different broadside country with an explosive, starting a occurrence that filled the full location with smoke,” helium adds.

Akram says the effect the raids had connected his and his children’s lives is much than the demolition of their home.

The autobus that utilized to transport his children to schoolhouse tin nary longer scope their neighbourhood due to the fact that the roads person been destroyed.

So now,  Akram has to locomotion them determination each greeting and afternoon, fearing for their information owed to the unsmooth terrain and the ever-present hazard of a abrupt subject raid.

He says it is besides harder for the children to sojourn their mother, who, since their separation, lives successful her family’s location successful the Sualma neighbourhood, conscionable 5 minutes distant from their house.

“Raids heavy damaged their mother’s house, truthful it is not harmless for them to enactment determination either,” helium says, adding that determination is also the hazard posed by raids bulldozers.

As helium speaks, Akram looks done a heap of clothes, covered successful particulate and partially scorched, to spot if immoderate of it is usable.

Eventually, helium picks retired a fewer items and puts them successful a integrative bag. “Thank God,” helium exclaims sarcastically “I recovered fractional a brace of pyjamas and 2 shirts.”

Given the changeless threats and damage, Akram says, “I’ve stopped trying to repair oregon adjacent cleanable the location wholly because, astatine immoderate moment, the service could raid america again and acceptable america backmost to quadrate one.”

Akram could beryllium forgiven for reasoning of moving his household elsewhere but, helium says, helium has “no volition to leave”.

“We cognize the demolition volition continue. Now, aft each raid, I conscionable region immoderate of the rubble. Most of the household items are ruined, and we’ve had to get escaped of them.”

Akram says sleeping successful his location these days is not overmuch antithetic from sleeping connected the street, arsenic ample parts of the location person collapsed and the windows are destroyed.

Many buildings are uninhabitable aft Israeli raids. Some families effort to past successful the ruins. A Palestinian pistillate successful her destroyed surviving country aft an Israeli raid successful Tulkarem, July 23, 2024 [Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP]

Dust and ungraded capable the aerial constantly, and determination is nary extortion from insects oregon immoderate different pest that mightiness enter, particularly with sewage flooding the streets outside.

For Akram, however, nary of this tin marque him leave.

“If the service comes backmost and destroys much of my house, oregon adjacent demolishes it completely, we volition enactment successful our home. We volition enactment adjacent if the full happening collapses”.

Every day,  Akram and the children determination betwixt the surviving room, the country wherever their birds are kept, and the destroyed entranceway of their home, trying to unrecorded a somewhat mean beingness successful the ruins of their aged one.

As they determination around, they occasionally halt to greet their neighbours done the gaps that were erstwhile their walls.

“Nothing astir our lives is mean immoderate more,” helium told me.

“But we volition enactment here, adjacent if we person to unrecorded fractional a life, successful fractional a house”.