A 95-year-old Palestinian woman, Fatema Obaid, refuses to abandon her homeland despite losing more than 70 family members to relentless Israeli bombardment. As a living witness to the 1948 Nakba, the elderly grandmother views the ongoing military offensive in Gaza as a far more catastrophic disaster. In her words, the first Nakba stripped Palestinians of their homes and lands, but the current conflict is actively erasing an entire history.
Obaid is currently taking shelter alongside her surviving grandchildren in an abandoned building in western Gaza City.
Speaking to international media outlets, she emphasized that entire family trees have been completely wiped out across the enclave. Countless children and young individuals have perished, leaving an emotional and demographic void that cannot be repaired for decades. She stated that the Israeli military is now executing what Zionist militias failed to fully accomplish in 1948. Born in the Shujayea neighborhood of Gaza City, she was initially forced to flee her home during the violence surrounding Israel`s creation.
Although a subsequent ceasefire allowed her to return to Shujayea decades ago, she now faces the same brutal reality at an advanced age. Since October 2023, airstrikes have completely leveled the neighborhood where she spent her entire life. Forced to relocate at least ten times due to continuous evacuation orders, her home was eventually targeted, killing her son, grandchildren, and dozens of relatives. Despite orders to move south, she refused to participate in another systematic displacement.
The historical Nakba displaced approximately 750,000 Palestinians and killed 15,000 people. In comparison, the current war has claimed over 72,000 Palestinian lives and displaced nearly two million individuals over the last two years. Today, Obaid`s only remaining link to her past is a pair of gold earrings given to her by her father during her childhood. For her, being uprooted from her land and waiting for death as a refugee remains the ultimate tragedy.
