(21.01.2024)

Many will say this is the second Palestinian Nakba, and it is for the majority of Palestinians in Gaza who were driven from their homes and lands in 1948.

But for my family, and for nearly 30 percent of Gaza’s population, this is our first experience of Nakba. This is the first time our connection to the city that has held our lives, our stories, and our history, for thousands of years, has been disrupted.

The house my aunty was driven out of belongs to my great-grandfather and was first built during the Ottoman empire, more than 100 years ago. Our neighbourhood, Tuffah, and its adjacent Mohatta Street, where the old railway station used to be, are much older than Israel and all its wars.