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UN PhotoGAZA / DISPLACED FAMILIES
STORY: GAZA / DISPLACED FAMILIES
TRT: 06:49
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 01 JUNE 2026, GAZA CITY
1. Various shots, overcrowded tents housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
2. Various shots, outside the tent of Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa, located near the beach in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
3. Various shots, inside the tent of Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa’s family.
4. Various shots, Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa helping his grandchildren with their school lessons inside their tent.
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jihad Abu Zarifa, displaced person:
“Our first displacement was under bombardment and death. We searched for a place to stay and went to several locations, but we found nowhere except the seashore; it was the only place that took us in. At first, we set up a small tent near the beach, but it was uprooted more than once by the wind and rain, and also by the sea, especially when the water flooded the tent and we nearly drowned. I pulled the children out of the water, we took off our clothes, and began trying to dry them.
This sea was a place we used to visit once a year, and that visit felt like a holiday and a celebration for us, especially in the summer. We would bring our belongings, food, and drinks. But now, we have been forced to remain permanently on the seashore. I have now spent nearly three years living on the beach, and our entire life has become tied to the sea, to the point that we have come to hate it. I hate the sea. If things are resolved and we return to our homes, I will not go back to the seashores, because I can no longer bear it. I have had enough of it.”
6. Various shots, Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa, his wife, and his grandchildren leaving their tent carrying laundry supplies, heading to the beach to wash their clothes there.
7. Various shots, Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa and his wife preparing water brought from the sea to use for washing clothes.
8. UPSOUND (Arabic) Jihad Abu Zarif, displaced person (while standing beside his wife as she washes clothes by hand):
“Because the water is salty, soap does not react with saltwater.”
9. UPSOUND (Arabic) Jihad Abu Zarif, displaced person:
“We are tired of this life. We hope to return to our normal life.”
10. Various shots, Mrs. Halima Abu Zarifa washing clothes by hand.
11. Various shots, Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa’s grandchildren looking toward the seashore.
12. Various shots, Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa and his wife washing clothes.
13. Various shots, children and young men swimming at the beach.
14. Various shots, Mr. Jihad Abu Zarifa and his wife washing clothes.
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jihad Abu Zarifa, displaced person:
“Before, we used to wash clothes using automatic washing machines, and we were comfortable. Now, we wash them with our hands and bring water from the sea for washing. All our clothes have been ruined, and we cannot buy new ones. The school clothes the children wear have become worn out, and all of them have changed color because of the seawater. We also wash the dishes by the sea. Our entire life has become tied to the sea. What can we do?”
16. Various shots, Mrs. Halima Abu Zarifa after she finishes washing clothes on the beach, leaving toward her tent with her husband and grandchildren.17. Various shots, Mrs. Halima Abu Zarifa and her husband hanging clothes washed with seawater on lines set up around their tent to dry them.
The seashore in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, is no longer a place where Jihad Abu Zarifa’s family goes for summer outings. It has become the address of a prolonged forced stay in a tent that protects them from neither the cold of winter nor the heat of summer.
Along the coastal strip crowded with tents for displaced people, Palestinian families pushed by the war to the edge of the sea are living after displacement sites became too overcrowded to accommodate them. There, where families once came for a few hours of rest, the sand, waves, and salty winds have become part of a harsh daily routine: sleeping in fragile tents, washing clothes with seawater, cleaning dishes near the shore, and living with constant fear of rain, wind, and rising waves.
Jihad Abu Zarifa says his family’s first displacement was “under bombardment and death,” and that they searched for a place to shelter before finding themselves in front of the sea. They set up a small tent near the beach, but it was uprooted more than once by wind and rain, and on one occasion seawater flooded it.
He added: “This sea was a place we used to visit once a year, and that visit felt like a holiday for us, especially in the summer. We would bring our food and drinks and spend a day on the beach. But now, we have been forced to stay here permanently.”
For Abu Zarifa, the sea is no longer associated with rest or family memories. He says his life and his family’s life have been tied to the beach for nearly three years, to the point that he has come to hate the place he once looked forward to visiting for recreation. He added: “If we return to our homes, I will not go back to the seashores. I can no longer bear it. I have had enough of it.”
Inside the family’s tent, Abu Zarifa tries to follow up on his grandchildren’s school lessons under limited conditions, amid overcrowded tents and the absence of the most basic elements of stability. A few meters from the tent, his wife, Halima Abu Zarifa, carries clothes to the beach to wash them with seawater, after clean water became scarce or insufficiently available.
Halima says that before the war, the family used to wash its clothes at home using automatic washing machines. Today, however, she washes them by hand, using salty water that damages fabrics and prevents soap from working properly.
Her husband says, while standing near her as she washes the clothes: “Because the water is salty, soap does not react with saltwater.”
Halima adds that the family’s clothes, including the school clothes worn by the children, have been damaged and changed color because of seawater. She says they cannot buy replacement clothes, and that their entire life has become tied to the beach, from washing clothes to cleaning dishes.
She says: “We are tired of this life. We hope to return to our normal life. What can we do?”
The story of the Abu Zarifa family reflects the reality of thousands of families displaced to areas near the coast in the southern Gaza Strip, where tents are packed into narrow spaces and nature itself has become part of daily suffering. In winter, rain and wind threaten the tents and flood them with water. In summer, heat, humidity, water shortages, and accumulated waste increase health risks, especially for children and the elderly.
United Nations organizations say the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains extremely difficult. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, many displaced families continue to live in overcrowded tents, schools, or damaged buildings because safer alternatives are unavailable, while access to clean water and basic services remains limited.
UNICEF has also warned in its latest updates on water, sanitation, and hygiene that 1.1 million children in Gaza face daily uncertainty over water, and that most families suffer from water insecurity. At the same time, waste is accumulating near displacement centers, tents, and overcrowded areas, increasing the risk of the spread of disease, rodents, and insects.
In Al-Mawasi, these warnings do not appear as abstract numbers. They are visible in clothes washed with salty water, tents pitched near the shore, and children looking at the sea not as a place to play, but as part of a life imposed by displacement.
For the Abu Zarifa family, the tent on the beach captures a complete reversal in the meaning of place: the sea that was once an annual appointment with joy has become an open-ended stay without choice, and the beach that was once a space of rest has become another address of loss and waiting.
