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Rafah, Gaza Strip – The rooms and corridors of Rafah's al-Amal Rehabilitation Society, a two-story building in a sunny yard filled with trees and a children's play area at the edge, are as vibrant as they ever were.
But the classrooms are not just occupied by deaf students, who normally wander around, by families fleeing Israel's continued attacks on the people of Gaza.
Rafah, located at the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, now hosts about 1.5 million people displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip by endless, indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of an area of about 63 square km (24 sq mi).
The first arrivals took place in fixed structures: the homes of friends or family, abandoned buildings, and schools that were no longer in use because Israel's war on Gaza had paralyzed life.
Some schools were run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), but the agency is no longer able to operate them fully as shelters, as it did after previous Israeli attacks on Gaza. Did it several times during.
It is estimated that there are about 15 buildings in Rafah that can be used as shelter, each of which can house about 3,000 people. This will bring the total number of displaced people the city could face to 45,000. Today, each school building is home to 25,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The unprecedented influx of people prompted the independent Al-Amal Society management to open its doors to IDPs, seeing the desperate need as families flocked to Rafah on foot, taking with them those who could not walk. Whether they were living, pushing or pulling, they could save whatever meager assets they had.
Families like 24-year-old journalist Abdul Rehman Mahani, who all live in the same room. He was displaced along with his parents, brother and two sisters, but this was not his first displacement.
They fled the massive bombing in the Remal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, to the ruined al-Shifa hospital and eventually to Rafah.
“In the darkness of the night, we heard frantic voices of neighbors shouting: 'Evacuate! Evacuate!'” Mahaney told Al Jazeera about the night he and his family fled. “Amidst the Israeli raids, we all ran to seek shelter at Al-Shifa Hospital.”
This time they soon had to relocate to the Nasr neighborhood, this time from al-Shifa, and Mahani remembers traveling with a 25 kg (about 50 lb) bag of flour, the most precious commodity in Gaza, on her back.
There was no protection to be found anywhere, and after several days of moving back and forth between Nasr, al-Shifa and the surrounding area, the family made their way south to Khan Yunis.
“That was the first time I saw Israeli captured tanks from a distance. We were walking in lines… young Palestinians were being arrested right before our eyes… it was horrifying.'
A month later, another move, then another move that eventually brought him to Al-Amal Society, although there is no guarantee that this would be the last time he would have to pick up his life and leave.
Al-Amal, 'Hope'
The deaf children and youth attending Al-Amal Society's school are all from Rafah, so some would be able to stay in their homes if the houses were in one piece.
Some children had to live in the building with their families after their home was destroyed in Israeli attacks. However, they have worked quickly to act as guides for visiting families, showing where markets, shops, pharmacies and health services are.
Al-Amal's team, which consists of five people including project manager Baha Abu Batnin, is pleased with this additional help. “Deaf students are very cheerful and love to give.
“They found ways to communicate with the displaced, making the displaced feel like they were at home despite the Israeli bombardment and hardships,” Abu Batnin told Al Jazeera.
They have also had some displaced people volunteer to clean or cook for others and run recreational activities for children.
Al-Amal now houses more than 600 people, with some rooms filled with more than 20 people, and the team works hard every day to help as many of them as possible.
Funding is an issue as they have to rely on financial or other types of donations to support everyone, but they have resorted to solutions such as bringing goods from their homes, especially when they do not have enough mattresses and blankets for all the IDPs. Were struggling for. Gaza's harsh winter weather.
Struggling for basic amenities
Once they were secure, they had to turn to other priorities, which they also struggled with.
Regarding food, the team is able to provide only enough to feed each displaced person one small meal a day.
Furthermore, the Gaza-wide drinking water crisis means they can only secure the equivalent of five cups of water per person per week.
Another priority that the team works hard to provide is the “dignified bags” of sanitary pads, pain relievers and other supplies that they provide to all displaced women and girls.
To some extent, helping displaced people has become a personal mission for Abu Batnin and the team, and they don't want to give up any aspect.
“We mainly care for displaced children and women, so our priorities were set accordingly,” Abu Batnin said.
Hala, a mother of three, is grateful that Dignity Bags has included it on their priority list.
“They are so important, we can't get these things in the markets right now,” he told Al Jazeera.
Hala, her husband, and their two sons and daughter were displaced from Tal al-Hawa, west of Gaza City, on 13 October. Initially, he took refuge in his second home in Az-Zahra for about five days but Israeli bombs reached there. Very.
Despite the inconvenience of living in a small room and sharing a bathroom with five other families, they managed to get a room in Al-Amal, which is better than nothing.
But, she says: “I don't feel safe. The constant sounds of Israeli bombardment increase the sense of danger.