 |
| Sami Abu Tabaq sits alone in his apartment in
Cairo, while his fiancee, Ola, remains in Gaza. Images of Gaza are shown
on the television. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/The Guardian |
GazaSat 17 Oct 2026
Wijdan Abu Matar, 43, was forced to leave Gaza in November 2023 with her eight children for medical treatment, while her injured husband, Hatem, remained behind.
Wijdan
and her family were living in the Nuseirat refugee camp when the Gaza
war began with the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Ten days
later, on 17 October that year, an Israeli strike hit the al-Muhandseen
tower, near their home, injuring Wijdan and every member of her family.
“We
were sitting together, just about to start lunch when the bombing
happened,” Wijdan recalled. “The ceiling collapsed over our heads.
Everything went dark. I couldn’t see anything. I just started screaming
the names of my sons and daughters.”
Her
daughter Nour, 15, suffered the most serious injuries, including a
fractured skull and bleeding in the brain. Five-year-old Amna suffered
severe burns to her chest. The family was initially separated after the
strike.
Nour spent about 33 days in intensive
care, with Wijdan by her side. Amna and Aysel, three and a half, were at
a different hospital for 15 days.
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| Aysel, who incurred severe burns in the bombing, holds up a photograph of her father. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/The Guardian |
On 30 November 2023, Wijdan travelled with Nour to a hospital in Egypt
for treatment. For months, the family remained scattered across Egypt,
receiving medical treatment and staying with other relatives.“I
felt completely helpless,” Wijdan said. “There was a fire in my heart
because I was away from my husband and my family was scattered.”
Eventually,
Wijdan managed to bring her children together in an apartment in Egypt.
Three years on, however, she is still separated from her husband, who
remains in Gaza. “I have become both the mother and the father to my
children,” she said. “The responsibility is exhausting me, and I am
constantly worried about my husband.”
Hatem
suffered a serious leg injury that limits his mobility and is now
displaced in a tent in Nuseirat. Even speaking to him is difficult
because of Gaza’s unreliable internet connection. “When he manages to
get online, he calls me and the children. He tells me, ‘I am counting
the days until I can see you again.’ I can see the tears in his eyes,”
Wijdan says.
Wijdan has no regular source of income and relies
on donations. Hatem stopped receiving a salary 10 months ago and his
injury prevents him from working.
In Egypt,
life is difficult for Wijdan and her family. She says she cannot afford
transportation to send five of her children to school. “I see my
children’s future slipping away in front of me, and there is nothing I
can do.”
Nour still requires medical
treatment, but Wijdan often cannot afford her medication. She sometimes
considers returning to Gaza to be with Hatem, but fears exposing her
children to further suffering.
“I dream of
getting my children the treatment they need, and I hope..." READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/17/couples-families-separated-war-in-gaza
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